Forever Fornever III
by The Crystal Hand Alchemists
Summary: PRT 3 The final stage of their journey now lies before Yusuke and Mai; where every bond will be severed, and their loyalty is put to the test. As new shadows appear on the horizon, it is up to them to decide the fate they have together.
1. Forget

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH. But my original characters and twists to the storyline are mine.

a/n: YES! KITKAT IS BACK EVERYONE! _FEAR ME! MWAHAHAHAHA!_

Yes I need to go to bed…

But I just couldn't help myself! Though, this chapter will be kinda short since I don't want to get _too_ into the story quite yet (evil laughter). At least the next chapter should be decent—and for all you Kurama/Mai fangirls still out there—

Kurama/Mai fluff next chapter! Hehe…but not too much

And since the Chapter Black Saga was pretty darn short, I believe I will combine this and the Makai saga together—how 'bout that? (especially since they'll both probably be rated M…(shifty eyes))

_Thoughts_

—Now without further ado—

_Forever Fornever III_

:Forget:

_Seven faces…_

_Seven unknown faces emerged from the shadows. One was crying…and another held a gun aloft in their hand. A face smiled sadly and another smirked with a foreboding malice. There was a flower petal that drifted to the ground from one of their hands and another folded their arms over their chest darkly…_

_A final suddenly stepped forward from the darkness and stretched out his hand and smiled slowly._

"…_Arakawa-kun…"—_

Mai gasped, shooting upright from her bed.

Her eyes were wide and she raised her shaking hand to her pounding chest. Cold sweat perspired off her brow and along the length of her arm to her trembling palms. An owl moaned outside her window, carried by the breeze gently moving at the curtains.

The guardian's chest rose frantically as her hand then went to her pounding head. Tears abruptly filled her eyes and she gasped again.

"…_yume…_" she whispered.

_That dream…_

Her head dropped to her knees and she wrapped her hands around her legs.

…_Shi-san… _

-:-

Her _hakama_ swished around her legs softly as she maneuvered between the trees. The slope of the mountain dropped out below her. The guardian's body shivered in the pre-morning air, but she held her arms at her side. A gust of wind brushed past her and sent locks of her hair brushing against her ears as her sandal-clad feet stepped carefully onto the earth.

She hadn't had that dream since she was little…

But lately…it had been resurfacing more frequent than naught. They had started up again nearly two months before and had increased ever since. She could have sworn she saw them when she was awake now too. And every time, they became ever so much clearer.

Ahead of her grew the steady roar of a waterfall. Mai's hand reached out to a nearby tree to support herself.

It didn't make sense though…

Even when she was little she had never understood the dream. But it always ended with one of the strangers calling her name…

But only once person had ever called her Arakawa-kun…

The riverbed came into view now at the bottom of the slope. She continued onward, her hands slowly reaching towards her collar. Her feet slipped out of her sandals as the shirt of her _hakama_ fell across her chest down around her feet. The chilling air lashed at her skin while she stepped precariously on the stones along the edge of the riverbank. The cascading water pounded mercilessly on her bare shoulders, but she continued beneath it. Her legs crossed on the moss-covered rocks and she stretched her arms outward beneath the roaring water.

Mai winced painfully beneath the waterfall as the freezing force gnawed her shoulders raw.

She would forget…

She just wanted to forget all of it…

—_He held her gently to him as she slept; her tiny body dwarfed considerably against his. His hand stroked the top her head slowly, his eyes growing distant._

"_Arakawa-kun…"—_

Her eyes clenched shut furiously; the pain searing through her shoulders began to burn despite the freezing water pouring down around her. She felt her mind racing fervently; desperately trying to block out the unwanted memories streaming through her.

—"_Shi-san! Shi-san!" she skipped merrily beside him, "Shi-san I'll be your guardian, alright?"_

_In her mind, his face remained a blank; shadowed and unseen, but he turned to her and a blurred smile appeared along his unseen face, "…right."—_

The guardian felt herself slipping on the rocks.

_I don't want to remember…_

She didn't even cry out as her body suddenly slipped beneath the surface of the water. Her body fell suspended in the water's current; her hair drifting slowly around her face. Bubbles escaped between her lips as she watched the moonlight beyond faze through the water's surface.

—_Blood splashed across the floor at her feet. Screams of terror filled her eyes and her large, shimmering eyes dilated in horror. She whimpered fearfully and took a step backwards._

"…_Shi-san…"—_

Mai gasped as her head emerged from beneath the water. Her arms grabbed hold of one of the rocks along the bank of the river and she hung there, breathing heavily…

And simply cried.

-:-

The guardian trudged back to the temple soaking wet. She hugged her abdomen tightly and kept her eyes downcast. Water dripped beneath the shirt of her _hakama_ and she shivered when another gust of air blew past her.

Easily, she hopped over the back end of the wall surrounding the temple, and still managed to remain separated from the world. She hardly even noticed when she slid open the door, that there was someone besides Genkai in the room.

She blinked and glanced uncertainly around the room at the other three strangers inside the foyer. The guardian blushed furiously when she realized her shirt had soaked straight to the skin…and the strangers were all men.

She mumbled a hurried hello and bowed (still clutching at her wet shirt).

They nodded briefly but didn't say anything. Genkai stood calmly and moved between them; seemingly oblivious—or at least uninterested—at her doused clothes or drenched hair.

"Students of mine," she told her simply gesturing at the three males. The guardian blinked again (other students? Since when had she had 'other students'?) but the elder woman continued casually as she held out a slip of paper to her, "Yusuke says he'll meet you at the station early…something about beating Kuwabara to the punch or some crap like that."

Mai took the paper, but glanced up, "Um, do they…?"

"They'll find their own way home," she answered shortly and gave her a look that told her she should leave. Without another word, she obliged by exiting the room and hurried across the courtyard towards her side of the temple to change.

As her wet _hakama_ slopped to the floor she glanced over the paper in her hand curiously. There was a time scribbled at the bottom that caused her to sigh irritably. She crumpled the paper in her fist and carelessly tossed it across the room as she slipped on her school uniform over her freezing skin.

The guardian slung her bag over her shoulder and turned. She clicked her tongue at Hywein who lay curled beneath her lamp on her desk. The spirit beast cocked her head and nimbly crawled up her outstretched arm onto her shoulder. Mai turned back to open the door and made her way along the patio running along the temple. For a moment, her curiosity nearly compelled her to eavesdrop on Genkai and her three new pupils—but decided the punishment wasn't worth it.

She made her way down the stairs in front of the shrine slowly as Hywein hopped the stairs in front of her. The guardian sighed and placed her hands behind her head as she stared up at the sky through the tree limbs about her.

Just like always, she made her way down the unpaved road towards the station. She passed the very few tiny houses dotted along the side of the road and waved slightly to the few people who were working outside at the ungodly hours. And like always, she received her pass and stood along the platform to wait for the train.

When it finally pulled up to the platform, Hywein had gone through the usually routine of scrambling into her bag before the conductor could antagonize her for bringing pets onboard. She found her normal seat against the window and sighed as the train lurched forward.

_Seven faces…_

"Seven faces," she heard herself whisper quietly. Her eyes became distant as she watched the scenery flash by her window. Her head rested against the glass pane and her eyes became glazed.

Seven nameless faces…

…except for one…but even then the face was never clear. It had been a feeling, a certain notion that it was him…one of those dreams where the beings were unrecognizable, but you knew exactly who the face belonged to, no matter what.

Mai shivered and huddled into her seat, her arms hugging her abdomen.

She heard Hywein growing restless by the time the train pulled into Yusuke's station. The guardian tapped the bag lazily to calm her down as she slipped out of her seat. Slinging the bag over her shoulder, she made her way through the cart.

Yawning, she ran her fingers through her hair and stepped off the train.

"Mind telling me why you made me come here at this ungodly hour?" she asked the detective waiting for her.

He snorted but didn't move from his position against a nearby pillar. He shoved his hands into his pockets and puffed out his cheeks, "Look, when Kuwabara starts waiting for you outside of the girl's bathroom, _that's_ when I get a little freaked out…"

Mai blinked and tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Oh right…"

Urameshi cocked and eyebrow, but she just shrugged and offered a small grin.

"I dunno, it's kind of grown on me," she admitted nervously as the detective's eye ticked, "I guess I've just stopped worrying about it."

"_Uso daro, konna…_" he muttered, "…You've _got_ to be kidding me…"

The truth of it was, ever since the Dark Tournament had finally ended, Kuwabara had taken the liberty of making sure Mai came to absolutely no harm….Which apparently meant making sure her every waking moment was guarded by him—whether or not Yusuke was present. After awhile, Mai had grown used to it, but to Yusuke it had just gotten more and more freaky.

"Keh," he shrugged his own bag over his shoulder and turned his back towards her, "Whatever, let's just get outta here before Kuwabara's alarm goes off…"

Yusuke stopped suddenly when he heard her laughing. He turned back towards her.

"Sorry," she said smiling, "I just don't think I've ever seen you so enthusiastic about going to school."

The detective frowned as he growled under his breath. He turned once more towards the street and stalked off. Mai was still grinning as she followed after him.

_She would just forget…_

-:-

a/n: yes…it was short…

But the next one will be longer I promise. Heh, this is the best I could do after being swamped with, what, two or three essays over the last week? I dunno, my brain's so fried I don't even remember X3

Anywhos!

Until next time, _minna-san_!

PEACE AND LOVE


	2. Reminders

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH (or any lyrics that I decide to stick here and there…) but all of my characters and original twists to the story are mine.

a/n: ahhhhhhhhhhh…

Nothing much to say really. 'Cept I finally watched the "In the Blood" DVD but I won't tell you what was so spoiler-ish about it in case you don't know already (but unless you were impatient and you either bought the DVD itself or read a summary for the episode, then you don't have to guess X3)

Haha, but I think I just did overkill by deciding to make my Halloween costume this year (nervous laugh) I'm going to go as Yuna from Final Fantasy X (I already have the hibiscus flower done! Yay! LOL) But if any of you have any tips—in case you've cosplayed before or something—I'd really appreciate getting some pointers X3

EDIT: Nevermind! I was able to finish my costume on Thursday. It looks so good I'll probably wear it to AC Chicago this year! Hehe!

Anywhos! I'm really bored tonight, so I think I'll try to update…sorta (hehe, I haven't actually finished writing the chapter yet…it's kind of a busy one (nervous laugh)) not to mention Mai seems a little out of character, even if she is a Mary-Sue—

Yes I admitted it! So sue me—it's true!

Hm…and I wonder if any of you have guessed who 'Shi-san' is…(shifty eyes)

LoL, cookies to my reviewers!

_Thoughts_

_Forever Fornever III_

:Reminders:

The toddler raised his stamp for the countless time that day above the never-ending stack of papers in front of him. He stopped halfway, however, when something caught his eye. The demigod set the stamp aside and peered over the paper once more.

"Koenma-sama!" Botan's head poked through the giant wood doors, "Koenma-sama, you called me?"

He didn't answer her right away; his eyes carefully rereading the statement. After a moment, he shook his had and set it aside, "We've been getting reports that Yusuke's town is giving off a lot of weird energy signals; I need you to make sure he knows this."

The ferry-girl nodded briskly and smiled, "I'll inform him right away!"

But before he could call her back with the specifics, her blue pony-tail bobbed through the door. Koenma sat there for a moment before his eyes trailed back towards the papers he'd set aside. His eyes narrowed seriously as he read the heading over again: Memory Removal Department.

"Her memory's coming back…" he said quietly.

-:-

Mai blinked suddenly, "Oh, that's right, I almost forgot!"

Ahead of her, Yusuke and Kazuma (after finally catching up to them around mid-morning) turned as she began to rummage through her bag.

"What's that?" the detective asked.

He saw her grin as she lifted to packaged boxes from within her bag. The two boys stared at them almost nervously as she dropped them into their unsuspecting hands, "For you two," she said simply, "You hardly eat anything anyway, so I just took the initiative."

Kuwabara cracked his open, "Ah, yum!" he cried out enthusiastically.

The guardian laughed nervously, "Yeah well don't get too excited, my cooking's not the best…"

Now Yusuke had looked into his, "Even with _onigiri_? Geez, if you're that bad, I think I might just have to starve myself," he said carelessly, but nonetheless tucked the lunch box safely under his arm.

"Well if you don't eat that, at least find something else to eat…" Mai said, pouting just slightly.

Suddenly, Urameshi fell sprawling forward onto the pavement as Kuwabara kicked him in the back, "And why don't you say 'thank you' while you're at it?" he shouted suddenly, causing the guardian beside him to sweatdrop as she caught the lunchbox flying from Yusuke's arm and the one Kazuma threw towards her.

In an instant, the brawl flip-flopped and the detective was stamping Kuwabara into the earth, "Oi! I didn't hear you say it either! Don't patronize me you idiot!"

Around them, passer-bys stopped and watched suspiciously as the two boys scrambled across the sidewalk. As Mai watched, she sighed irritably and shook her head, "…idiots…" she grumbled. Yusuke lifted Kazuma by the collar and was about to punch him again, but paused midway and his eyes flickered upwards.

He frowned slightly, "Can I help you?" he muttered at the three thugs standing in front of him. The detective dropped Kuwabara back on the pavement and stood; calmly placing his hands in his pockets. Mai came to stand behind him, still clutching the lunchboxes as the redhead started to recover.

"Urameshi, right?" the first growled, "We hear you're the next big punk—"

He was cut off suddenly as the detective pushed past him and his goons. Mai and Kuwabara quickly followed. The trio of thugs blinked, stunned as Yusuke calmly placed his hands behind his head.

"I've seen worse."

The small group made their way down the walk as those who had been watching their brawl cautiously returned to what they had been doing. As they walked past a café, three head rose in unison to watch them. One of the seemingly normal teens glanced briefly at a slip of paper.

Swiftly, he crumpled it in their fist and smiled at his other two companions.

His grin turned into a smirk, "And the polls say…I think we've found our match."

-:-

Mai's pencil drug lazily over the papers slowly. She rested her head in the palm of her hand as her teacher droned on at the front of the room. Beside her, Yusuke leaned back on his chair and propped his legs on his desk, and next to him, Kazuma was trying to balance his pencil on his upper lip.

Her eyes grew unfocused as her pencil continued to scroll along the paper. A bird chirped outside the window next to her.

—_The little girl wept fearfully as she cradled her head in the dampened corner. Shadows whispered and crept closer towards her frail and shaking body; eyes glared at her from beyond. Tears streamed down her scratched face as she scrambled away from the crawling darkness._

_One of the clawed hands clung at her skirt and she screamed._

_But her world was suddenly thrown into a world of violet light and the sound of demons' cries of pain. In another instant, she was suddenly lifted off the ground and felt herself being cradled by a warm body; the rhythm of their pounding feet running through her._

"_It's alright…" she heard a whisper in her ear, "…I've got you."—_

Suddenly, the guardian's eyes widened and her pencil fell from her hands with a clatter. Her violet-speckled orbs darted frantically over the paper in front of her.

Yusuke turned and stopped rocked in his chair. He quirked an eyebrow, "Mai…?"

"Miss Arakawa," she heard her teacher call from in front of the room.

Mai shot out of her chair and slammed her hands down along her desk as her body went numb, "Nurse," she blurted quickly, "I don't feel well."

Her teacher studied her for a moment curiously before he gestured for her to go. Instantly, the guardian grabbed her bag—and crumpled her paper in her hand before she hurried out the door. She raced down the hallway a little ways before she slowed and suddenly slumped against the wall beside her.

Her hand trembled around the paper clenched in her hand and she tucked her knees up to her chin. Fervently, she ran her fingers through her hair; her heart beating in her ears.

Somewhere within the depth of the school, the bell rang. Hurriedly, she gathered her bag before Yusuke or Kuwabara could catch up to her—she at least had to make it to the nurse's office by then—

"ARAKAWA-_KOHAI_!"

Mai turned slowly, but was stopped halfway suddenly when a blow stuck her across the face. She blinked in surprise, and gingerly touched the red welt beginning to swell. The guardian suddenly found herself in the midst of some upperclassmen, and even some younger girls.

One of them japed her in the chest with her finger.

"You have some explaining to do, Arakawa-kohai."

-:-

Urameshi shrugged as he left the clinic, "Never checked in," he told the redhead waiting outside. He let out a short laugh as he shoved his hands in his pockets, "I must've rubbed off on her…she probably ditched—"

Before he could finish, he saw Kazuma charging down the hall frantically calling out the guardian's name. The detective sweatdropped as he watched many people scramble out of his way.

He blinked, "…uh, Kuwabara…?"

"Yusuke! There you are!"

The detective turned, "Oh, hey Botan," he said casually to the ferry-girl bobbing towards him. She was wearing her schoolgirl uniform and she hurried up to meet him as he calmly took the opposite hallway Kuwabara took.

"Yusuke you haven't been seeing anything…um, out of the ordinary lately, have you?" Botan wondered as she walked up beside him.

The detective quirked an eyebrow, "Besides that big lug?" he asked, gesturing over his shoulder to where Kazuma lumbered into random classrooms looking for Mai. He shrugged, "Not particularly."

"No, not like that, I mean—"

The bell rang again before she could finish her sentence. Botan sighed in frustration and her oar suddenly appeared in her hand once everyone had been cleared of the hallways. She hopped on it and hovered near the open window on the other side of the corridor.

"I don't want to explain why I can fly to your teacher. I'll come back after school," she called as she vanished through the window.

Yusuke shrugged and continued on his way casually, "Whatever…"

Practically on the other side of the school, Kuwabara was still searching for the guardian through the now empty halls. Maybe she went back to class, he kept telling himself, maybe she felt better before she go the nurse and decided just to back to class…

Kazuma sighed, "I wonder if she'd let me put a tracking device on her or something…" he grumbled.

In his mind, he received an instant 'no'.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and wondered if Urameshi was as worried about Mai as he was. But judging by his simple calm, he probably wasn't anywhere near being as frantic as the redhead—which constantly came into question.

Ahead of him a little ways, he heard a group of voices that piqued his interests. As he turned the corner he caught sight of some girls huddled near the wall.

"Huh, maybe they've seen…"

The redhead trailed off suddenly when a hard smack rang through the hallway, and he stopped when he suddenly recognized a head of crimson hair. He came to a halt halfway down the corridor in confusion.

"Just who do you think you are anyway?" one of the girls demanded and pointed harshly.

Kuwabara watched as the guardian said nothing.

Another of the older girls made her way to the front of the group. She furiously placed her hands on her hips, "Do you know what you've done to him? I hear his grades are dropping because of you—he's still too busy being head-over-heels to worry about school!" she japed her finger in Mai's shoulder.

"_Hai_! And all because you though you could be all special and high-and-mighty—and just leave him!"

The guardian's head sunk further onto her chest and her eyes became hooded. It was almost as if she was pretending like she couldn't hear them.

"Hey!" one of the girls cried. Another blow struck her face, "Are you even listening to us? You left Kurama-_senpai_ for that punk-ass Urameshi! You broke his heart Arakawa—!"

"—Oi, did someone call my name?"

The group of girls scattered back suddenly and Kazuma blinked as Yusuke suddenly appeared with his arm beside Mai. His gaze was hard and dangerous, causing the upperclassmen to pale in fear and step away.

One of the elders of the group stepped forward nervously, "Look, Urameshi-ko—"

His eyes flashed, "Don't go pulling that honorific crap," he muttered darkly as he stepped in front of Mai, "Now, if you know what's best for you, I'd leave. Usually I don't beat up girls, but for you I'll make some exceptions."

The girls' blanched suddenly and were about to turn tail and run, when a nearby classroom door slid open.

"MR. URAMESHI!"

Kazuma turned to find Mr. Takenaka appearing from one of the nearby rooms. His face was contorted with irritation as he moved towards the commotion. Yusuke didn't appear to be fazed and rather had a 'dammit, not again' expression on his face.

"Do I even want to know?" he asked as his eyes darted from the group of girls to the small redhead next to the detective. Yusuke said nothing and Takenaka sighed in frustration, "Detention, Mr. Urameshi, after school in my office…" he turned towards the older girls, "And all of _you_ need to get back to class," he told them sternly.

At once, they all nodded and hurried off down the hall. Takenaka had a look on his face that told the remaining party they should be doing the same. Yusuke shrugged and turned down the opposite direction, the guardian walked slowly behind him with her head still locked on the ground. Kuwabara quickly jogged up to walk beside the detective.

Yusuke placed his hands behind his head carelessly, "And I was so hopeful that you had actually ditched class…" he told her with an air of disappointment.

But Mai said nothing. Kazuma glanced worriedly over his shoulder and back to the detective, "Who's were those girls?" he asked her.

He saw her turn her head away from them and almost wouldn't say anything, but Yusuke answered for her.

"Didn't you hear them, Kuwabara? They're Kurama fanatics," he muttered and snorted in amusement. He cocked his head back towards Mai, "I'm surprised he just hasn't snapped with all the attention he's gotten from girls…that would drive me crazy," he frowned slightly, "—But why _you_ didn't beat their faces in yourself is beyond me. Normally you would have probably shoved them out an open window…"

Mai said nothing for a long time, "Heh…sorry, but I just haven't been up to it lately," she said quietly, "But after your little stunt at the tournament…I've had to start my training back up from scratch—"

The detective suddenly stopped, "_Nani_? What the hell does that mean?"

"Oh…" Kuwabara turned to face the guardian and nodded in agreement, "I think I know what she's talking about…the same thing kinda happened to me after my fight with Toguro…I think that sword Suzuka gave me had some weird side-effects…"

Yusuke whirled on him next, "Both of you?" he cried in disbelief, "You've been trying to protect _her_—" he jabbed his finger over his shoulder, "—without any spirit energy, and _both_ of you are out of commission?"

"Yeah, well," Kazuma said thoughtfully and shrugged, "It's not like anything important has happened lately…"

The detective growled under his breath, "Still…" his eyes flickered behind him without turning, "…it makes me nervous that _she'll_ be unarmed," he said quietly to the redhead beside him.

"Well don't worry about that," Kuwabara said, suddenly cheerful, "I'll make sure nothin' happens to her!"

Urameshi snorted, "Right, that's unbelievably comforting coming from a guy with enough _reiki_ to barely fill a sake cup…" he mumbled.

As their conversation continued, Mai began to zone out. She looked down at her hand where her fist still clenched around the crumpled piece of paper. She unfolded it slowly and stared at the crude drawing etched in the corner. A tiny child sat cradled in the arms of a bird-like creature…with a distinct human face.

But that face…

"Mai…" she suddenly heard the detective's voice and she quickly crumpled the paper back in her hands, "I'll walk you to the station, alright? So wait for me after school."

The guardian opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again.

He cocked an eyebrow, "What?"

She looked off towards the ground, "There…was something I needed to do alone today…" she told him quietly.

Mai noticed his eyes narrow slightly, "This doesn't have anything to do with earlier does it?" he asked, "Don't let what they said get to you—Look, they're just jealous 'cause Kurama already knows how shallow they are."

The guardian shook her head, "_Iie_…there was something else…"

Something that was burning at her heart…

-:-

"You're getting soft, Suichi…" came a voice from above him.

But Kurama didn't look up from the book in his hand. He sat calmly beside the window as the dark-haired teen came to stand in front of him. The akage didn't need to look up to recognize the voice—or for that matter, who was there.

Kaitou sat calmly in an open seat and crossed his legs, "I do believe the score says you're in second place now," he continued coolly, "I don't think I've seen you this let go."

The akage calmly flipped a page and remained seemingly oblivious to him.

Inwardly, his opponent grew annoyed, _look at him, he's listening to every word I say as if he doesn't even care…there must be something wrong with him—_

"Oh, Suichi-_senpai_!"

Kaitou turned and Kurama looked up at last and smiled at the two girls making their way towards them.

"Oh, hello _joshikousei-san_," he said to them.

They smiled and the first of the two stepped forward, "Suichi-_senpai_! Mine-_chan_ and I were wondering if you would go out with us sometime!"

He blinked as if he had never been asked that before, "I'm honored, but I'm afraid I've been quite busy lately. I'm sorry if I disappointed you," he admitted and rubbed the back of his neck.

"You can't be too busy, Suichi," Kaitou said as the girls walked away giggling, "At least not with schoolwork—seeing that you're starting to lose your touch."

For the first time, Kurama looked at him and his opponent gulped slightly at the look in his eyes. It was as if he had insulted him of the greatest kind, judging by the agitation within his gaze. For a moment, Kaitou was about to retaliate when something cut him off.

"Oi!" One of the other boys leaned at the window and looked outside, grinning, "Would you take a look at that, Makoto?"

Another boy joined him and broke out into a grin as well, "Aw man! She's not even from out school, is she? I mean, look at the uniform—it's Sarayashiki's isn't it?"

"Yeah, I wonder what she's doing here though, last time I checked, school isn't over for another half hour. Heh, but she _is_ pretty darn cute—"

More of the guys grouped around the window.

Kaitou turned back to Kurama…only to find that he was gone.

-:-

Red eyes flashed from the rooftop as Hiei watched the smaller redhead stand nervously at the gate. He watched her as she alternated between squatted on the back of her heels and pacing along the sidewalk on the other side of the wall. The apparition snorted in amusement as he watched her anxiety.

"Hn, _baka onna_…"

He folded his arms irritably over his chest. Ever since that bastard toddler had condemned him to this hellhole of a city, he had quickly grown bored. The least he could do was wait until the fox got out of that prison he called 'school', but even then, he wasn't any fun anymore; especially since this pathetic city didn't have anything to exterminate anyway—

Hiei's eyes flickered suddenly.

In an instant, his katana slid from it sheath and flashed through the air. As he dropped it back in its casing, an insect dropped to the floor of the rooftop. He frowned slightly as he watched it fall.

"…"

The apparition blinked and looked away from the insect when he noticed a second figure making their way towards the guardian.

He snorted, "…_aho_."

Mai looked up suddenly from the ground as the akage made his way towards her, "Ah…Kurama-kun…"

He stopped even before he'd reached her. She hadn't addressed him that way for so long…lately, the only time she had done that was when something was wrong—and even then it wasn't anything serious, more like a failed test or forgotten project, but she seemed worried in different sense this time…

The guardian put on an obviously fake smile, "So how are you?"

Kurama blinked as if he hadn't heard her right, "What?"

"I just wanted to know if you were doing alright," she said, "I was just checking up on you, that's all…" she insisted and smiled again.

But the akage was unconvinced. He took a step forward, but was quiet for a long time. The guardian watched him in confusion and noticed his hands clenching slightly, "Mai…please don't lie to me when something is troubling you," he noticed her smile beginning to fade, "If there's something wrong…"

She suddenly shook her head; insistently, cutting him off, "No, really…I…wanted to make sure you were doing alright," he saw her turn her head away from him, "I'm worried about you, Kurama…that's all…"

There was a long pause before the guardian suddenly laughed and lifted her head with a seemingly honest grin, "I'm allowed to worry over you, aren't I? I may be Yusuke's guardian, but that doesn't mean you and everyone else don't matter."

Kurama opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself and sighed; running his fingers absently through his hair. His hand then found its way to the back of his neck and he rubbed it wearily. She watched him curiously as he said nothing and wondered if she had said something to upset him…

The guardian blinked.

Mai abruptly made a short, apologetic bow, "_Gomen ne_, Kurama," she said as she stood and smiled, "I disrupted you from school, didn't I? My bad," the guardian smiled again, "I was expecting you to come after school, I suppose…"

It was the akage's turn to blink now as he realized something, "Speaking of…why aren't you there?" he wondered somewhat suspiciously.

"Oh that…" he noticed a coy-like grin along her face as she laughed, "Let's just say a little of Yusuke has started to rub off on me lately."

She turned as if she was going back through the school gates, but turned back towards Kurama just before she got there. Mai waved to him, grinning, before she hurried around the walls surrounding the school. The akage waited as he listened to her footsteps fade along the sidewalk. After a long time, he sighed; slowly placing his hand in his pocket as he turned back towards the building.

He stopped at the door.

"Keep an eye on her, will you?"

Hiei snorted from above him (and in slight irritation because Kurama had already spotted him), "You do realize, fox…that I would sooner kill myself than follow the _onna_ around for the day?"

Below, the akage stood still for a moment. The apparition cocked an eyebrow out of curiosity when he noticed Kurama's eyes flicker towards him.

"Please, Hiei…"

The apparition snorted again as his companion went back within the building. Absently, he flicked his katana in and out of its sheath and then folded his arms over his chest. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could still see Mai making her way down along the sidewalk and saw her turn a corner.

The edges of his mouth turned slightly when he noticed that the direction she was heading wasn't anywhere near the school she and the detective went to…nor the station she took to get back to the old hag's…

Hiei's eyes narrowed slightly and wondered if Kurama really thought he was joking…

-:-

"Gah…can't I leave yet?" the detective muttered over his shoulder. He propped his foot on his desk and balanced himself on the corner of the chair. A bird fluttered past the window in front of him.

Mr. Takenaka looked up from his desk, "No talking, Urameshi."

Yusuke growled under his breath irritably and turned back towards the window. His arms hung lazily at his side. The detective rocked in his chair impatiently as his eyes flicked towards the clock again. He glanced briefly towards his bag resting at the base of the desk to make sure Puu wasn't trying to escape again.

_So much for walking her home…_he muttered inwardly, _hell, she's probably already at Genkai's by now—_

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

He blinked suddenly. And sweatdropped. Botan floated casually outside the window on her trusty oar. She grinned and waved enthusiastically to him as Yusuke desperately held back from swearing loudly at her or, for that matter, tackling her through the window. But he nervously glanced between her and Takenaka, hoping that he would somehow not notice the blue-haired ferry-girl outside the second story window (And wasn't that what she was trying to prevent earlier, anyway?).

Takenaka checked his watch and sighed, "Alright, Mr. Urameshi…you can leave," his eyes narrowed slightly from over his desk, "I better not find you harassing anyone else, am I clear?"

The detective nodded—and without looking punched the window (which was quickly followed by a cry of surprise). The principal cocked his eyebrow suspiciously, but Yusuke was able to calmly make his way outside the room.

As he slammed open the front doors, he was immediately greeted with an angry grim reaper.

"_What was that for?_ I could have died!"

Yusuke stared at her, "Isn't that technically impossible?"

Her cheeks puffed out in irritation, "You know what I mean! And where's Mai and Kuwabara?" she said as she glanced around the front of the school as if expecting to find them nearby, "I was supposed to tell all of you that we've been getting weird readings around here…Koenma-sama was pretty worried about it…"

The detective shrugged, "He gets worried when he needs a change in diapers," he said offhandedly and waved her off. He walked past her calmly towards the front gates, "But thanks, I'll keep that in mind, Botan."

She blinked, "That's it?" she cried in disbelief, "You're not going to do anything about it?"

Urameshi stopped and turned, "What do you expect me to do? Last time I checked, I haven't felt anything out of the ordinary…so there shouldn't be anything for me to worry about yet, right?"

Botan shook her head furiously as Yusuke continued off school grounds, "No! No, no, no, no, no! You're spirit detective! You're _supposed_ to INVESTIGATE!"

Casually, he flicked her off over his shoulder, "Whatever."

She watched as he disappeared behind the school walls, "_Err!_ YUSUKE!"

As the detective walked along the side of the street, he grinned sheepishly and placed his hands in his pockets, _heh, sorry Botan…_He kicked at a pebble at his feet and watched it skitter across the ground.

He passed a small, abandoned filed as the sun began to fade behind some of the taller buildings. Tied to the strap of his bag, Puu purred happily as he bounced along with each step the detective took. But Yusuke suddenly came to a stop at the entryway of the field.

"Hey…Urameshi."

Yusuke cocked his eyebrow at the suspicious trio of teens standing amidst the field, "Do I know you? Because, you know…you'd think I'd remember a coupla ugly faces like yours…"

The first smirked in amusement almost, and stepped forward, "We've heard some very interesting thinks about you, Yusuke Urameshi," his eyes flashed, "We wanted to test the rumors for ourselves."

The detective grinned, "Oh really. I'm glad my reputation precedes me then."

Without warning, Yusuke suddenly vanished. The male teen's eyes widened in surprise—and he cried out when Urameshi's fist landed in the side of his face. His other tow companions watched calmly and one pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. The detective's opponent staggered slightly. He wiped the bleeding corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

He smirked, "Heh, that's it? That was hardly what I expected."

Urameshi frowned slightly, "Tshk, just making sure I didn't kill you on the first punch, that's all…"

He trailed off suddenly when he caught sight of the blonde-haired teen charging towards him. His opponent's fist flew at him in the motion of a furious uppercut. Easily, the detective backed out of the blow and ducked beneath him. In one swift motion, he brought his own fist drilling into the other teen's stomach and his opponent gagged.

Yusuke smirked as he straightened and watched as he doubled over in pain…

That is, until the teen smirked calmly and rose to his feet. Yusuke clenched his fist at his side in frustration, and slight irritation.

"Really, Urameshi…is that all you have to offer?"

The detective gritted his teeth angrily as the three teens grouped back together. The one blonde-haired male stepped forward, and his eyes flickered briefly towards the detective's bag where his spirit beast hung pleasantly suspended in the air.

"Why don't you untie him…" he said coolly, "I'm sure you don't want anything bad to happen to him."

Urameshi's eyes narrowed in distrust, but obliged anyway. Puu quickly fluttered into the air. Almost gratefully, the spirit beast flew off away from the field, but not without one last glance back towards the detective.

"Now…" he turned back towards the other three teenagers, and opened his mouth to say something more, but stopped. The blonde-haired male had stepped forward again…but there was something in his attitude that made him frown suspiciously.

He gritted his teeth, _I don't like the way the air feels all of a sudden…_

Something crawled at the back of his neck and he tried to take a step forward…

His eyes widened, and the blonde-haired boy smirked.

"My name is Asato Kido…" he said calmly

"And my power is Shadow."

-:-

a/n:

Haha, yeah sorry for the long wait _minna-san!_ I have literally had no time to do anything for myself for the past two weeks (hehe…except make my Summoner Yuna costume—THAT LOOKS FREAKIN AWESOME!)

But yeah, I still need to watch that DVD Sarieu gave me (she probably thinks I stole it (nervous laugh))

PEACE AND LOVE _MINNA-SAN!_


	3. Setting the Trap: Onward to Rokurokubi

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any YYH…cept for some of the DVDs. But Mai and all my original characters/plot twists are mine.

AN: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! My YYH website died! (well it wasn't necessarily _mine_ per say…) But now I don't have any of the episode summaries to go off of! T.T

**_PLEASE _**if any of you know where I can get a decent website with the Chapter Black summaries on it (preferably not would be much obliged! And even if you have the DVDs yourself and are willing to write me up a summary…I'D BE COMPLETELY IN YOUR DEBT! And if you do decide to do that, you can email them to me at HyweinKioko4031 after my mourning over the loss of MazeCastle (website) I decided it would be best if I started on this chapter before I completely forgot how the episode went.

…if I still remember it…T.T;;

So yeah, if this chapter isn't quite as accurate as some of the other ones, I apologize

Cookies to my reviewers!

(But I guess if you want me to respond to your review you're going to have to sign it from now on –jeeze, just keeps adding more rules (they're logo is starting to look pretty darn hypocritical now…))

_Thoughts_

_Forever Fornever III_

:Setting the Trap: Onward to Rokurokubi Mansion:

"I don't believe it. So Mai really did ditch, huh?" Botan said thoughtfully as she walked beside Kuwabara.

He nodded, "Yeah, and knowing Urameshi, he probably opened the door for her," he grumbled as he shoved his hands into his pockets, "He's a bad influence, ya know. I think Mai would have been better off staying with Kurama—"

The ferry girl quickly slapped her hand over his mouth, "Don't say that!" she cried frantically.

He blinked in confusion, "Mwot?"

She removed her hand hastily; laughing suddenly as she rubbed the back of her neck, "Ah-ha ha…oh nothing!" she turned towards him, grinning, but her eyes narrowed teasingly as she turned away, "It's just not like you to say stuff like that…Are you jealous?"

The redhead blanched, "What? NO! No! Why would I be?" he asked frantically (though there was a suspicious blush tinting the edge of his cheeks) "Especially since I have devoted my entire life to Yukina!"

Botan grinned again, "Ah well, you're right (forgot about that little detail); I must have just jumped to—oh…" she blinked abruptly as she trailed off and looked over her shoulder, "Well that's odd…"

Kazuma turned to find a familiar flapping ball of blue heading towards them; screeching frantically in a high-pitch tone. The spirit beast dipped awkwardly through the air towards them and seemed rather out of place…or at least really upset.

"Puu! PUU! _PUU!_ _Puu_!"

"Okay, _okay_ Puu!" Botan caught him in her hands as he continued to squirm restlessly, "Calm down and tell us what happened…oh wait…" she laughed and rubbed her neck again, "I guess you can't do that, can you?"

"PUU!"

The spirit beast wrenched from her hands and flapped back off toward where he had come from. In unison, Kuwabara and the ferry girl ran after him down along the sidewalk as he led them down the road. They kept an eye on him as the spirit beast flapped behind a fence and disappeared into the next road over.

They turned the corner after him and found the little spirit beast flying just over the entrance to a fenced-in junkyard. Kuwabara and Botan glanced suspiciously at one another before crossing the street towards the entryway. Puu flapped ahead of them and cried out frantically as he hovered over a bag. A rock held down a slip of paper resting on top of it.

"That's Urameshi's bag…" Kazuma said in confusion as the ferry-girl bent over and removed the paper from its hold.

She read over it once and her mouth dropped, "That's not possible…"

Kuwabara leaned over her shoulder and suddenly gaped, "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"

-:-

Her body moved without her; her feet trudged onward down the sidewalk as she continued to ignore the people she bumped into. There was a stiffness in the air…it was going to rain soon.

She hardly even realized it when her arm reached over the curb and hailed a taxi. The car pulled to the side and her hand slipped around the door handle. As she slid into the seat, the driver leaned back to face her.

_Where to…?_

Mai didn't know what to tell him…Where _was_ she going anyway?

Her lips parted slowly:

_Kyoshiro_

She felt the car lurch forward and she hugged her jacket to her chest. Against her window, tiny droplets of rain pattered upon the pane. The guardian sunk deeper into her seat; her eyes slowly became hooded beneath the flashing streetlights

The guardian laughed inwardly…

…_Kyoshiro_…

She had never been there before…

Beside her, her bag rustled slightly and she saw Hywein's head poke through the flap and mewed worriedly—but not loud enough for the taxi driver to hear her. Slowly, Mai reached out her hand and stroked the small area between her ears.

"_Zettai_…" she whispered suddenly, "…never again…"

The guardian blinked.

What the hell did she mean by that?

She rubbed the back of her neck wearily, _weird…_

Mai patted the top of Hywein's head once more before she managed a small smile. She rested her head in the palm of her head and leaned the base of her arm against the window. On a lighter note, Yusuke was probably out of his detention by now.

_That idiot's probably gotten himself into another fight again_…she told herself with a grin.

-:-

"_Teme_…" the detective growled dangerously under his breath as he watched his shadow stretch out before him. That damn light behind him was getting to be more of a nuisance that he would have like…if they turned it off at least he might be able to _move_…

The bizarre blonde-haired teen in front of him smirked, "I imagine you're getting tired, Urameshi."

Yusuke's eye ticked slightly (_Gee, ya think?_), "No, I actually enjoy standing mid-punch for hours on end—do it all the time you know…" he muttered darkly. After at least an hour, he had realized this kid had a knack for pointing out the excruciatingly obvious—especially since he couldn't go anywhere with this bastard's foot on his freaking shadow…

—What was with that anyway?

"_Oi_!" he called over angrily, "What's the whole point to this thing anyway—where's your evil scheme?"

Kido smirked again (damn, that smirk was getting annoying quick), "If I told you, there wouldn't be any fun to it, would there?" He picked at something on his fingernail absently, "But…I guess it's only fair to say that we should be getting company any time now."

He gritted his teeth, "What the hell's that mean?" he demanded angrily.

"It means…" the teen said slowly, "That the trap will be set very soon…" his eyes flashed, "I believe some of your friends will be paying us a visit then as well…"

The detective's eyes widened, "_Nani_?"

-:-

"Miss…_Hey_! Miss—!"

Mai nearly smashed her head up against the window as she jolted up from her sleep. She shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair quickly before turning to the front of the cab where the driver sat rather irritably. The guardian murmured a quick apology before gathering up her bag and moving towards the door.

"Oi," the cab driver called to her as she slipped out of her seat. The guardian stopped and turned back towards him, "There ain't gonna be another taxi around her for a good long time; you'll hafta pay extra if you want me to sit around here and wait for ya," his eyes narrowed slightly, "How long ya gonna be anyway?"

She glanced away absently, "Not long…" she said quietly and closed the door. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a small flash of light as he pulled out a lighter and another cigarette. She shrugged her bag over her shoulder and glanced up and down the road.

Something caught Mai's attention and she turned slowly.

A shadow darted into the trees off to her left, and she blinked. Taking one last glance towards the cab driver, she followed after the child-like figure.

-:-

Kurama looked up abruptly from his beaker and cocked an eyebrow. He glanced absently towards the door (he could have sworn he heard someone calling his name…)

He set the vial down in front of him and moved towards the small collaboration of assorted and colored chemicals waiting in their tubes. As he measured out a beaker into the other containers, he saw a shadow come over his work station. The akage looked up calmly at his fellow classmates.

—They looked surprisingly desperate…

"Minamino-_kohai_—we need to know how…how you do it…" one said rather awkwardly.

He blinked out of confusion, "Sorry?"

"—How are you able to get all the attention of the girls?" another one of the boys stepped forward frantically, and slammed his hands on the table Kurama was working on, "You don't even have to try; we want to know how you do it!"

"Better yet—" the final cut in, "Would you asked a couple of them out for us?"

At this, the redhead blinked again and held up his hands in surrender as he tried to move subtly towards the door, "I-I'm sorry…I'm really not sure how to help you in that subject…"

"Please Minamino-_kohai_!" the cried in unison and managed to block his way towards the door.

Even Kurama was beginning to panic as they seemed to close in on him (and for a second he contemplated jumping out the window—at least _he_ could survive that). It was just for a moment, but the akage could have sworn that they were about ready to jump him if he didn't agree to help them—

"KURAMA!"

Suddenly, the laboratory door burst open—or rather, it was ripped cleaning off its hinges as a familiar redhead kicked it down. The door crashed right on top of one of Kurama's classmates and sent him sprawling to the ground while the other two watched uncertainly…

Kuwabara stopped—oblivious to the other teen—on top of the broken door frantically, "Kurama we need your h—"

For the second time that day, Kazuma was silenced as the other redhead motioned rapidly to him to be quiet.

"'Kurama'?" one of the boys wondered in confusion.

He laughed nervously and waved them off, "Ah-hah…nothing but a silly little nickname!" he insisted and turned quickly back towards his friend, "Please, Kuwabara, refer to me as Suichi around here—'Kurama' technically doesn't exist…"

"Ah, screw that!" Kazuma shouted frantically, "This is an emergency!"

"Ah! But Minamino-_kohai_!"

Kurama—happy as he was to be free of that situation—smiled apologetically as Kazuma hurriedly ushered him out the door, "Another time, I promise!" he called over his shoulder (but he wasn't quite sure that they heard him since he and Kuwabara were already halfway down the hall). And at the rate Kazuma was going, they were outside of the school in a matter of thirty seconds…at the most.

Waiting for them outside beyond the school gates was a nervously pacing Botan. She stopped when she caught sight of the two boys coming towards her and raced to meet them.

"Thank goodness we at least found you, Kurama!" the ferry-girl cried.

He blinked, "Why would that be, Botan?" he wondered and glanced back towards Kuwabara for a second, "Kuwabara said it was an emergency—"

She nodded swiftly, cutting him off, and held out a single slip of paper out in front of her, "We didn't believe it either—but Yusuke's been kidnapped!"

Kurama stared at her in disbelief, "He's been what?" but before they could repeat their answer, the akage shook his head and grasped the paper from Botan's hand, "Mai wasn't with him, was she?" he said as he hurriedly skimmed over the letter.

Botan shook her head, "Not by the sound of it…" she gestured towards the bottom of the letter, "But they do want her, you, Hiei, and Kuwabara to go after them to the Rokurokubi Mansion…"

He took better look at the last few lines of the note:

…_By midnight tonight those members of the Rekai Tantei: Kuwabara Kazuma, Arakawa Mai, Minamino Kurama, and Jagan Hiei will come to the Rokurokubi Mansion—_

_Or else the safety of Mr. Urameshi will not be guaranteed._

The ferry girl frowned and glanced up at the two boys in front of her, "You don't think it's a trap, do you?"

In front of her, Kazuma snorted, "Urameshi must've been pretty bored to come up with something like this—unless he thought he was coming up with some twisted little scavenger hunt—"

"I don't think she meant Yusuke," Kurama cut in, "…but I have to say it does sound suspicious," he frowned over the last part of the letter, "And by the looks of it, we only have a few hours to get there."

"But we don't even know where Mai is—and God only knows where Hiei's gotten to!" Botan said frantically, "How are we supposed to find both of them by midnight—that's only in a couple hours!" (a/n: and I have no idea why Kurama was at school at that time…)

She trailed off suddenly and blinked.

Laughing abruptly, she scratched the back of her head, "Oh riiiiight…" she smiled nervously as she held up her briefcase, "Haha, I forgot I brought this along for that very reason! Silly me!" The other two boys sweatdropped uncertainly as she plopped pleasantly to the ground and opened the case.

Botan rummaged carefully through the assorted knickknacks filling every crevice physically possible within the briefcase. She tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Now let's see…" She picked out a few, but frowned and put them back.

"So which one'll find them?" Kuwabara asked, leaning over the ferry-girl's shoulder.

She blinked again, "Oh right! Hm…Ah!" her hand retrieved an item closely resembling a pocket watch, "This is the superbly improved Demon Compass! A fresh take on the classic style for tracking down any and all possible demons!"

Kurama frowned slightly, "But wouldn't Hiei simply be able to deceive it by manipulating his energy?"

The ferry-girl shook her head enthusiastically as she held the compass aloft, "Not anymore…thanks to the newly installed Sample Chamber; by placing his DNA—such as a strand of hair—we can find him regardless of his energy!" she explained with a grin.

"It's too bad I don't carry around a locket of his hair," the akage put sarcastically.

Botan paused before she scratched the back of her neck nervously, "Uh yes…good point…" she sighed heavily and hung her head, "Ugh…too bad Hiei's not here. We could have used his Jagan eye to find himself…"

"Hey, what's this?" Kuwabara asked as he picked out of the ferry-girl's briefcase. She turned back to him and found him staring at a small whistle-like object, "Some kind of dog whistle or somethin?" he asked.

"Actually," she said as she took it from him—her face lit up as a thought occurred to her, "You _could_ call it that! 'Cept this is sort of a dog whistle for demons! I completely forgot about this—it's perfect!"

Kazuma blinked, "Does that mean if you blow that, the shrimp'll come running back here like some dog?" he wondered in disbelief as visions of Hiei as an eager little puppy flashed through his head, "Are you sure he won't be able to manipulate this?"

The ferry-girl nodded, "This one's impossible to deceive; it reacts with anything and anyone that has spirit energy—But you better cover your ears now, it's rather annoying—"

Both Kurama and Kuwabara quickly obliged as she raised the whistle to her lips.

As she blew fiercely into it, a shrill, high-pitched screech rang through the air. Kurama winced as the sound pierced through the shield over his ears, while Kuwabara simply blinked and looked around in confusion.

"Ah, it's penetrating!" Kurama said as loudly as he could above the whistle's screech.

Kazuma looked around again, "Really? I don't hear anything but the birds…" he said calmly, "Huh, I guess there _is_ one plus to not having and _reiki_…"

The sound began to die off as Botan started to run out of breath. She removed the whistle from her mouth and glanced around curiously as Kurama released his ears. For a long time there was nothing but silence and, as Kuwabara put it, just the birds.

Botan suddenly sighed again and stared off despondently at the whistle in her hand, "I was so sure that was going to work too—!"

_FWMP._

In unison, the trio blinked and turned towards a tree behind them. A bush sitting next to it rustled suspiciously—before a familiar head of spiked hair emerged growling irritably. Hiei furiously ripped the leaves sticking out of his hair and shook his head.

"What the hell was _that_?" he muttered angrily to the ferry-girl still holding on to the whistle. He picked at his ear in an irritable fashion, "And I thought Kuwabara's scream was the worse thing I had every heard…"

"_Oi!_ Wanna say that to my face, shrimp?" Kazuma shouted as he jumped to his feet, "I'm gonna kick your ass if you keep with those jokes!"

The shorter appartion snorted in amusement and Kuwabara clenched his fist.

"Stop laughing hamster legs!"

Kurama was frowning slightly as he approached the two of them, "I thought you were watching Mai," he said seriously—without somehow losing his calm.

Hiei snorted again, "Did you really think I would? I told you, fox, I'd rather gouge out all three of my eyes before I followed the _onna_ around for the day," he held the akage's gaze for a long time before he blinked and turned back to Botan with a fierce glare, "Why was it that you used that hellish device anyway?" he growled.

"…Because of this," Kurama answered simply and held out the note left by Yusuke's bag.

The apparition eyed it suspiciously before he snatched it from his hand. He scanned it over suspiciously fast before he closed his eyes with a smirk and thrust the piece of paper back towards Kurama.

"Tell the kidnappers I've declined. I'm done babysitting the detective…"

He turned to leave and Botan cried out frantically, "But you can't leave! If you all aren't there by midnight—well, who knows what could happen to Yusuke!"

Hiei cocked his head over his shoulder, "Do you really think I care?"

"I'm sure, Hiei…" Kurama started calmly with a small smile, "That if you help, Koenma-_sama_ would be willing to relieve your sentence for being grateful for returning _Rekai_'s spirit detective," he said, careful to play off of the apparition's desire to escape from this 'hellhole'.

The akage noticed Hiei's eyes narrow threateningly as if saying he'd better be right. Regrettably, he turned back towards the trio and angrily situated himself against the tree he had fallen from earlier. His red eyes flashed dangerously though from beneath the hood of his hair.

"But now how are we going to find Mai?" Kuwabara asked suddenly frantic, "Its one thing trying to find the shrimp here…" he gestured over his shoulder (Hiei's eyes flashed murderously), "But Mai's got no spirit energy either! I don't think any of those device-thingies are gonna help us find her!"

Botan tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Ah…well, that will make it difficult…" her eyes suddenly lit up and she snapped her fingers. She laughed cheerfully, "My! What is it with me and forgetting everything today?" the ferry-girl quickly rummaged through her bag and pulled out, what appeared to be, a pink compact mirror, "Good thing Mai's not embarrassed about carrying this thing around—unlike Yusuke; he wouldn't be caught dead with his again…"

"But you can find her with this, right?" Kurama asked.

She nodded briskly—but then let out a nervous laugh, "At least if she hasn't left it at school or somewhere!"

Kuwabara's face dropped slightly, "Oh, that's comforting…"

-:-

Mai stopped suddenly and looked around.

A forgotten path lay at her feet; crawling with wild vines of ivy and other differentiated shrubs and greenery. Back along the slopes of the hill, the taxi's headlights glowed off of surrounding trees, but were beginning to fade as the woods grew thicker and thicker around her.

She blinked.

What the hell was she doing anyway? The guardian glanced back towards the direction she was heading and shook her head.

She was following an ominous shadow! How suspicious was that!

The guardian sighed and scratched her head wearily before shifting the weight of her bag on her shoulder. From within, she heard Hywein yelp in surprise and saw her green eyes flashed irritably towards her from inside the bag. Mai ignored her—not unkindly—as she continued her hike up along the hillside.

This whole day was bizarre anyway…she might as well follow a shadow the way things were going already.

Her hand reached out to a branch in front of her as she lifted herself up onto a higher platform. With a little difficulty, she staggered onto a flatter landing, and was able to swipe at the chunks of mud along the hem of her pants. She sighed and straightened again…only to blink when she caught sight of her surroundings.

The entire area was completely cleared away—as if it had been just mowed by a caretaker—and in the midst of the landing was a single mansion. No, scratch that, it was more of the medieval castles she had read on in World History. Had the trees not been tall enough, she would have definitely been able to see it from the cab…

Mai blinked again, "…Well isn't this just the weirdest day I've ever had…" she mused aloud to no one.

_But why had she been drawn here—?_

_BEEP.BEEP.BEEP._

The guardian cried out in surprise as her pocket began to beep loudly. She quickly fumbled through it and retrieved the communication mirror from inside and flipped it open.

"_Ya-ho_!" she said hurriedly.

Botan's face instantly appeared along the screen, "There you are!" she cried—and for the first time, Mai noticed that she looked rather flustered (not to mention traces of Kuwabara, and Kurama could be seen in the background…), "We've been looking everywhere for you! See, she was lucky that she wasn't with Yusuke…" she said to the two boys over her shoulder.

She blinked in confusion, "Why's that?" she wondered.

The ferry-girl turned back to her; suddenly laughed nervously, "Eh-heh…Would you believe me if I said Yusuke had been kidnapped?" she asked meekly.

…

"_WAIT, WHAT?_" Mai yelled suddenly as she gripped the compact with both hands, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S BEEN KIDNAPPED? HOW THE HELL DOES _HE_ MANAGE TO GET KIDNAPPED?"

"That's what we'd like to know…" she heard Kuwabara mutter in the background. The guardian saw Botan fiddle with something in her pocket before she held aloft a slip of paper.

"The kidnappers left a note saying that all the _tantei_ had to meet at the Rokurokubi Mansion by midnight—ohhh," she mumbled in frustration, "They say they can't guarantee Yusuke's safety after that—!"

"_ER! THAT IDIOT!_" Mai was muttering suddenly on the other end, "_I'm gonna kill him before they even get a chance!_" The other three watched nervously as she growled dangerous threats to the detective—with obviously no concern whether or not he was safe now or not (though, it wouldn't really matter much after she got through with him…)

Kurama blinked and cautiously turned the mirror to face him, "But where are you?" he asked, "We only have until midnight, if you didn't already forget…"

Mai cut herself off suddenly and blinked as well, "Heh…you see…" now it was her turn to let out a nervous laugh as she scratched the back of her neck, "I sort of took the liberty of taking a trip over to Kyoshiro…"

"_Kyoshiro_?" Botan cried, "What are you doing in Kyoshiro?"

_That's a good question…_the guardian thought to herself absently, but then shook her head; returning her attention to her other three companions, "But I'm too far away; I won't make it in time…"

"Too bad you can't teleport," Kuwabara said offhandedly on the other end. The ferry-girl kicked him to tell him that this wasn't the time to be making stupid jokes.

Botan turned back towards the screen as the redhead sat grumbling behind her, "That does leave us in a pickle…" she mused and scratched her head. For the countless time that day, her eyes suddenly lit up and she snapped her fingers, "Unless…Mai! Stay right where you are!"

The ferry-girl dropped the compact mirror into Kurama's hands and ran off a little ways. They both watched her curiously as she continue to run off down the sidewalk. It was only when her oar suddenly materialized in her hand that they realized what it was that she was doing.

"Wait—where's she going?" Mai asked from the mirror.

"Uh…I think she's going to pick you up…" Kuwabara said as if he was uncertain of himself and scratched the back of his neck.

The guardian blinked, "She's _what_?

Botan hopped onto her oar and began to lift off into the air. She turned back to the trio below her, "—Go on and meet us at the mansion!" she called over her shoulder with a wave and a grin, "We'll meet you there as soon as we can!"

-:-

In no more than ten minutes, Mai saw the silhouette of the ferry-girl high up in the air and flagged her down with a hand. Botan caught sight of her and swerved through the air back down towards her before touching down safely on the ground. She sighed and brushed a few strands of her hair as she looked around.

"Well this is an odd place for you to be…" she said aloud, but shrugged as if it didn't really matter, "Ah well—we better hurry and catch up with the others," she said and gestured towards the back of her oar.

Mai stared at it suspiciously before she situated herself behind the ferry-girl. They kicked off into the air, and the guardian suddenly found herself clutching the flying instrument for dear life as they soared through the air.

"And _how_ did Yusuke manage to get kidnapped again?" she shouted as the wind roared in her ears, "Even he's not that stupid!"

"True," Botan shouted back, "But judging by not only that little piece of information, the way the kidnappers wrote the letter…it sounded like they knew all about that _rekai tantei_! Something tells me that there's something not entirely normal about whoever it was who kidnapped him!"

The guardian frowned slightly. Well, that wasn't normal for someone to know that…

She had lost all of her spirit powers like Kuwabara, but maybe some of her spiritual awareness was coming back—that might have explained why everything was so weird today. Subconsciously, she might have been tapping into this…it could have been why she had this sudden urge to go to Kyoshiro…

In irritation, she sighed and her grip tightened on the oar as Botan dipped through the air.

_You better have not gotten yourself screwed up in something life-threatening again, Yusuke…_

-:-

"Five 'till…" Kurama said calmly as he checked his watch.

"Dammit! Botan better hurry…" Kuwabara muttered, "They probably stopped to grab a soda or somethin'."

The three boys stood just outside the gates to the house—with the exception of Hiei that is (he happened to be squatting on top of the gate). The mansion behind them certainly looked out of place; not to mention it had some properties that would most likely defy the laws of physics. It bent in all sorts of directions and doubled over itself in some places, yet in all aspects, it was still just as sturdy as any other house.

Hiei's crimson eyes flashed upwards, "They're here," he announced in a mutter.

On cue, the ferry-girl's oar appeared drifting down towards them with a second passenger sitting behind her. Only a moment later, the two touched down just in front of their other companions. Mai slid off the back of the oar along with Botan, and when the ferry-girl took it back in her hands, it simply disappeared and she brushed off her skirt cheerfully.

"Did we make it?" Botan wondered.

"Just barely," Kurama said; checking his watch again just for safety. He glanced over his shoulder at the house and the two girls followed his gaze.

Mai rubbed the back of her neck, "Well isn't this an odd meeting place…" she said as the group hurriedly made their way towards the front doors.

But the ferry-girl stopped short, "Hey…this is odd…" she walked up the steps and grasped a slip of paper tacked to the door, "'When entered, this do not: Ever utter the word 'hot'," she frowned.

"Is it some kind of riddle?" Kuwabara wondered as he read it over her shoulder.

Kurama shook his head, "No," he said seriously as he too read the note, "It's a warning. There's no way to tell if it's real…But we may as well take precaution…"

The other redhead nodded, "Right. Nobody say 'hot'!"

At once both Botan and Mai slapped their hands over his mouth, "Shh!" they hissed furiously—

But at the same time, somewhere inside of the house a bell chimed loudly as the clock struck midnight. Kurama's hand latched around the handle and smiled slightly.

"Shall we?"

-:-

Kido smirked as he listened to the tolls of the clock ringing throughout the house. He turned back coolly towards the detective who sat still, gritting his teeth furiously at the other teen.

"And so, Yusuke…" he started and leaned up against the wall behind him.

"…I do believe your friends have fallen into the trap…"

-:-

a/n: jeeze, this chapter sucked…

Or at least, it was definitely NOT my best work.

But that's what happens when your best YYH website—_DIES!_

:sigh: Now I'm gonna have to ask for the box set for Christmas—even thought I really don't want to do that; I don't like asking for stuff n.n;;

But Happy belated Turkey-Day, _minna-san_! (_Gomen nasai_ for the long update time, though…hehe)


	4. Genkai's Ruse

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH, but all my original characters and original storyline(s) are mine, if you don't mind.

a/n: (sigh) I don't know what do with myself tonight n.n;; -- I've felt like that for a few days now, so I hope it's just a faze XD

Anyway, again I'd like to remind everyone that, well…my memory's definitely not the best :nervous laugh: so bear with me those of you who have watched the Chapter Black saga! _Gomen nasai!_

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! HOLY CRAP I FINALLY FOUND A REPLACEMENT WEBSITE! T.T (haha, but I pretty much found it right when I'm about to finish this chapter…but o well! I'll have it for the next one WHOOOOOOOOOO!)

_Thoughts_

_Forever Fornever III_

:Genkai's Ruse:

The door creaked open instantly when Kurama's hand touched the handle. Kurama took a small step backwards as his eyes narrowed suspiciously at the interior of the house. Slowly, he raised his hand and gestured for the others to follow him.

They hesitantly obliged; first Kurama, Kuwabara, Mai and Botan, then finally Hiei. But as the shorter apparition passed over the threshold, the doors promptly slammed shut. The two girls let out a small cry of surprise (along with Kuwabara), but Kurama and Hiei both kept their eyes forward and narrowed dangerously.

In front of them, the entire room closely resembled the outside of the building; there were bookshelves along the wall that bent in every sort of angle – and a small corridor on the other side of the room bent the same way. But it wasn't necessarily the shape of the room that caught their attention, but the excruciating heat radiating around them (it even appeared as though a thick haze was rising up from the ground.)

But Kurama's gaze was set darkly on the inhabitant of the room.

"Heh…I never would have guessed that the great Suichi went by the alias of 'Kurama'…" he said coolly towards the akage.

Kuwabara blinked between his friend and the dark-haired teen sitting calmly at the cent er of the room, "Kurama, you know this guy?"

He nodded stiffly, "Yes," he answered without averting his eyes, "He's one of my classmates…Kaitou."

Mai stared inquisitively at the other boy sitting in the middle of the room. It was odd…but she could have sworn she had seen him somewhere before…

Behind the two boys, Botan suddenly let out a sigh as she fanned herself with her hand, "Is it just me, or is this room unbelievably h—"

"_Botan!_" Mai cried hastily as she slapped her hand over her mouth, "We all know what the temperature's like in here—_you don't have to point it out!_"

The ferry-girl blinked and laughed nervously, "Hah! Oh right! Silly me!"

Kaitou smirked, "I see you've received my note…"

The akage stepped forward seriously, blocking his view of his companions, "I don't know what you're doing as a part of this…But I warn you – if you harm Yusuke in any way, I assure you we will show you know mercy."

"_Ya-ho!_" cried Mai suddenly as she stepped up next to Kurama, "Where is he anyway? _Where the hell are you guys holding Yusuke_?"

The other teen smirked in amusement, "Oh, he's perfectly safe," he answered calmly, "He's upstairs with my friend Kido…But I'm afraid none of you will be able to get to Mr. Urameshi until you've gotten the key to the next room," he gestured over his shoulder and the group suddenly noticed a second party member guarding a door at the back of a corridor, "Yanagisawa…" he told them simply (and Mai blinked again – she could have sworn she'd seen him too!), "But you won't be able to get to Yana either until we've had a little time to talk. Even so, you only have an hour before Mr. Urameshi's safety cannot be guaranteed."

Kazuma clenched his fist, "Then we don't have any time to talk, darn it!"

From behind Kaitou, Yana patted his breast pocket where the end of a single golden key stuck out, "Besides…" he said, "I can be pretty stubborn, so even if you _are_ able to defeat Kaitou – it'll be hell trying to get this from me."

Beside her, Kurama placed his hand on Mai's shoulder and ushered her gently to the side, "Please Mai…" he said quietly under his breath, "Don't to anything brash; there's something about this room that doesn't feel right…"

Kuwabara took a step forward angrily, "This guy's nothin'! I don't need any spirit power to know he's just a big pushover!" he clenched his fist again, "I'll fight my way through if I have to!

Suddenly, the redhead charged forward. He raced past a smirking Kaitou straight towards the teen on the other side of the room. Kurama suddenly noticed his rival's calm appearance – as well as Yana's – and cried out to his friend.

"_Matte!_ Kuwabara!"

Kaitou calmly closed his eyes, "I wouldn't do that if I were you…"

_**SLAM!**_

Without warning, Kazuma fell sprawling backwards before he had even reached his opponent. He slid back out of the corridor and into the other room. The redhead blinked before he jumped to his feet and clenched his fists.

"What the hell was that!" he demanded furiously.

Yana smirked calmly and brushed off his coat as if Kuwabara had actually managed to hit him, "We should really be more gentle with one another here," he said coolly.

"Kazuma are you alright—?"

"Enough!" Kurama said sharply, and swiftly turned back towards Kaitou, "How long can you afford this brazen façade, Kaitou? There is something that you're obviously not telling us; if we are to play by the rules…we should know what game we're playing…" he said darkly.

The other teen smirked, "Heh, no wonder you were always the top in our class, Kurama…" he said mockingly as he ignored the akage's murderous glare and he rose slowly out of his chair, "But let me properly introduce myself to your friends, Suichi…"

He stood and made a short bow to those in front of him.

"My name is Kaitou…and I have the power of Taboo."

Kazuma whirled, "Whaddya say?" he blurted.

Mai even saw Kurama grow surprised and glanced between the two teens nervously; _the power of Taboo…?_

Almost as if reading her mind, Kaitou laughed and slipped his hand into his pocket, "I'm sure both you and your shorter friend there sensed it when you entered the room," he told Kurama, and gestured behind him towards Hiei (who's hand only clenched tighter around the hilt of his katana), "This entire room…is my territory…"

"Once again…" Kuwabara said as he came around to his companions, "What the hell are you spewing?"

He smiled calmly, "In this room…my word is law. And as a psychic, the power of Taboo allows anything that I forbid becomes forbidden – or the price is simply your soul."

Botan cried out, "_What?_"

But Kurama's eyes only narrowed further, "So you've made this into a game, have you Kaitou? Do you and your friends find it as a game to watch us play for our souls…?"

Kaitou shrugged, "You make it sound so cynical, Kurama."

His gaze darkened dangerously, "You have already tabooed the word from your warning, then…" he continued and his eyes flashed quickly towards Yana, "…and any fighting."

The other teen smiled, "Any violence is naturally prohibited," he reassured them, "It's my way of making sure everyone is on an equal level…or at least that it has to take at least more than brute force to get past me in my territory…"

_Kshnk_

The group turned suddenly as Hiei withdrew his katana from its sheath. The apparition glared dangerously at the teen across from him and gripped the sword in both his hands.

"Are you deaf?" Kuwabara shouted, "He just said you can't fight in here—_Oi! _Are you even listening?"

Without warning, Hiei vanished from their sight –

Only to reappear directly above Kaitou with his katana raised above his head. But underneath him, the dark-haired teen merely watched him calmly as the apparition began to swing his sword downwards.

But even before Hiei came close to striking, his katana instantly collided against an invisible barrier surrounding Kaitou. The apparition furiously gritted his teeth as he forced his sword further – but it wouldn't delve any deeper into the shield. He felt the strain growing from the hilt and his eyes narrowed.

And all at once, his sword shatter clean of its hilt.

The fragments clattered to the ground below Hiei as he leapt backwards furiously. In frustration, he hurled the hilt of his katana away from him.

"There is no one in this world that can control my destiny," he muttered under his breath and glared defiantly, "One three-letter word will not decide my fate—!"

"—Hiei, _wait_!" Kurama cried hastily.

"_HOT!_"

In a blinding flash of light, the group hurriedly covered their eyes as the air around them shifted eerily…as if something was being removed from it. But by the time the light subsided, both Mai and Botan cried out in unison when they found themselves standing behind a chillingly, life-like stone carving of the apparition.

Kaitou calmly raised his hand towards Hiei's body as a stream of red light extracted itself from within. It gathered in his palm to form a small ball of light in his hand.

He smiled, "Your friend sure is stubborn, Kurama."

The akage gritted his teeth. Behind him, Kuwabara was curiously poking the stone likeness of Hiei…

"Eh…even as a statue, he's still kinda creepy…" he said as he poked it again for safe measure. He straightened and turned back to Kaitou – who had seated himself comfortably back into his chair at the center of the room, "So that little orby-thing is the shrimp's soul?" he asked, slightly creeped out.

"Strange, isn't it?" Kaitou wondered as he glanced down at it, "That such a vast element could be so tiny in a physical form…"

"_Hey!_" Mai said as she cut him off and stepped forward yet again, "We don't need a lesson on it! Just hand back his soul already so we can get out of this heat already – you must be some be some sort of camel or something to stand this!"

The other teen smiled calmly, "I've gotten used to it, yes…" he said simply, "But if you're overheated, you can always get something to drink…"

He gestured off to his side to a small, compact refrigerator sitting against the wall. The group eyed it suspiciously, but Botan was the first to move towards it. She opened it and lifted a can of soda cautiously in front of her as if it were poison.

"You drink it first, Kaitou," Kurama said dangerously as he turned to his classmate. He nodded towards the ferry-girl and she tossed the other teen a second can.

Kaitou shrugged casually, "If it'll make you feel better," he said and popped open the can. He took a deep sip from it and then gestured when nothing happened.

But Botan – still a little suspicious – eyed the can in her hands a final time before the top opened with a hiss.

"Hey, Botan," Kuwabara called to her, "Why don't you grab a couple straws so we can share it with each other, alright—?"

—A second flash of light suddenly enveloped the room, as the essence of Kazuma's soul formed into an orb in Kaitou's hand. Now, a second stone carving was seated within the room.

"_Kuwabara_!"

The ferry-girl whirled towards the psychic, "That's not fair!" she retorted angrily and placed her hand on her hip, "He didn't even come close to saying the word 'hot'!"

"Botan—!" Mai cried in disbelief.

She blinked when she realized what she had just said – and laughed nervously, "Ah-hah…Whoops!"

—Then a third light flashed through the room, and another soul was added to the collection in Kaitou's awaiting palm. Botan's spirit now joined Kuwabara's and Hiei's as her body grew cold and turned to stone…

The guardian blinked in complete disbelief, "Geez that was quick…"

"Oh…that's right, I should have warned you," Kaitou said almost as if it were unimportant, "Speaking the letters H, O and T in order, and in anyway…_That_ is still considered taboo…"

Kurama's hand suddenly reached out to Mai's shoulder as he held her back, "Please don't say anymore…" he said quietly under his breath while his eyes never left Kaitou, "…it will be hard enough trying to get back their souls…"

She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it quickly and nodded. The akage moved forward and calmly took the seat in front of his classmate and crossed his legs.

Kaitou smirked and held the tiny orbs of light out in front of him, "A soul really is a fragile thing…scratch just one tiny part, and the entire thing might just collapse," his eyes flashed dangerously and Kurama's eyes narrowed, "Yes…Maybe I'll just make a little scratch.

In an instant, the akage's mood changed, "I warn you…" he said darkly. He folded his hands, but left his index finger pointing towards the other teen – similar to a gun barrel, "You so much as bruise what's in your hand and I'll show you pain. The hue of your soul will cease to matter because you will not be judged when you die…" his gazed burned in anger, "You will no longer exist."

He flicked his thumb, and a flash of gold flickered in his hand. Both Mai and Kaitou's eyes widened in surprise when they realized that in Kurama's hand, he held on to the key Yana had been protecting.

The dark-haired teen's eyes flickered to the floor next to the Kurama, and the guardian saw it too. Crawling out from the akage's pocket was a single vine of ivy that stretched across the floor of the room and up onto the wall. From there, it crept along the ceiling where it hung directly above Yana.

"But how did you—?"

"I was not stopped since I refrained from violence," Kurama answered him simply, "With gentle discreetness I merely borrowed the key from Yana's coat pocket…"

Yana gaped, "So you picked my pocket with some greenery? You really are a first class freak!"

Kurama appeared to ignore him, and turned back to his opponent, "I'll make a deal with you, Kaitou…we'll play by your rules, and if I am victorious, then you'll return the souls of my companions…and if not, you're rules will still apply. But be warned," a small smile actually appeared along his lips, "You'll still have another one of us to deal with if I fail…"

The psychic thought for a moment before he narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "What's you're game then…?"

"It will start out as one letter, but as time moves forward, we eliminate more. There are 26 letters in the alphabet and forty-five minutes left to play, thus, every one-hundred and four seconds we will lose a letter we can say starting from the end – at Z – and moving backwards," he explained to him coolly as he quickly scribbled the letters onto a piece of paper.

Kaitou watched him for a long time, before a smile made its way onto his lips as well, "Follow the rules both host and guest, don't utter a letter crossed off from the list. Each hundred-and-four seconds, note too, another letter becomes taboo..."

Behind him, the second hand of the clock hit the twelve, and he smirked.

"Let the games begin, Suichi."

-:-

"Heh…so how much longer 'till my friends get up here to kick your ass?" Yusuke called from the doorway. After awhile, he had learned to definitely appreciate that endurance training he had done a few months ago – not to mention all that damn fighting from the tournament…it was sure as hell paying off right about now after standing in that doorway for a good three hours.

But in front of him, Kido smirked for the countless time (and Urameshi's eye began to tick), "That would be _if_ they get up here," he corrected, "You obviously don't quite know the depth of Kaitou's power do you…?"

The detective frowned dangerously as the psychic placed his hand into his pocket.

"My friend Kaitou – quite simply – has the ability to steal a person's soul."

Yusuke's eyes widened, "_What's that?_"

Kido laughed in amusement, "And my sources tell me that already three of your friends have fallen prey to his territory – Now tell me again," he said slowly, and his eyes glinted, "Which of them was your guardian, Urameshi? From what I here, you two are quite an item…"

At once, the detective's eyes flashed dangerously, "_Urusai!_"

Carelessly, the psychic rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Well, let's just hope she wasn't one of the three…" he told him.

Urameshi's hand balled furiously and Kido simply watched him.

"Oh, I think I've struck a nerve," his eyes flickered towards him, "Is it a fight you want, Yusuke?" he wondered.

"The hell I do!" the detective shouted, "Just take your foot off my damn shadow and I'll be happy to pound your face in! Just keep talking – I dare you!"

He smirked, and suddenly…he did just that.

Yusuke's body jolted as he was suddenly released from the psychic's hold – but without hesitating, clenched his hand into a fist and charged.

Yet just before he reached him, Kido's foot suddenly slid back onto his shadow and the detective rammed into an invisible wall. His eyes burned furiously as his fist remained outstretched just inches away from the psychic's face.

"Calm yourself, detective…" Kido told him with a sneer, "They'll get here soon enough…"

He smirked.

"Or at least what's left of them."

-:-

The psychic watched him for a long time with that twisted smirk across his face. His eyes flickered behind the akage and Mai, to the three statues sitting in the foreground. In front of the stone carvings, each one of their souls hovered in front of their body. And it was apparent to both sides of the battle, that they would not get them back until Kaitou's power relinquished.

He stood then and calmly made his way around his chair towards the corridor behind him.

As Kaitou closed the bathroom door, Kurama quickly stood. The guardian behind him quickly jolted out of a small daze after sitting in that room for a good forty minutes so far (and after thinking to herself over and over again _'Don't say anything. Don't say anything. Don't say anything'_). She watched though as he casually moved towards a bookcase. He looked as though he was going to pick out a book, but instead she saw a single vine crawl out from under his sleeve and watched as it crept into the corridor. Only a second later did she hear a small thump and the sound of a body slumping to the ground.

Mai stared at the akage in surprise, but he only moved quickly about the room. For awhile it looked as though he was simply pacing in random areas, but when he returned to the center of the room, he placed his hand at the center of the table (and although she couldn't see it) released a small amount of energy into the air. At once, it was as if the entire area came to life as dozens of plants began to appear from various corners of the room.

Before she had even realized it, Kurama grabbed her hand and swiftly lifted her into his arms. She blinked as – in one leap – the akage jumped off the ground and landed in the large chandelier hanging above the ground. The light fixture swayed dangerously as they settled, but Kurama still held the guardian by her arm. She turned towards him and saw him put a finger to his lips; already almost the entire alphabet had been eliminated – any form of noise would most likely fatal.

The guardian blinked again as her eyes fell along the plants still curling along the floor below; _what the hell_…?

From beneath them, a flushing sound emitted from the corridor as the bathroom door clicked and opened.

Kaitou stopped suddenly as he closed the door behind him. His eyes flashed quickly down the corridor and realized in shock that Yana now lay unconscious on the floor. The psychic stared in disbelief…_but how…?_

His gaze suddenly flickered back into the room and he took a step back. Even from where he stood, the vines and plants growing within the depths of the interior curled towards him. Irritably – yet still with a bit of uneasiness – he kicked them away with his foot and cautiously made his way into the room, but not before he glanced over his shoulder back at the door.

_Kurama and the guardian could have left already to the next room..._ he contemplated as he maneuvered through the greenery. Kaitou stopped though when he came upon the three lifeless bodies still sitting exactly where he had left them; their souls still floating in front of them.

_But he wouldn't have left his friends, would he? Even Suichi isn't that heartless…_

He started suddenly and whirled around the room. He had realized suddenly that the game was still on – and Kurama was most likely still in the room; just hiding within his shrubbery and waiting to jump out and surprise him so that he might cry out the letters that had already become taboo. His eyes flickered frantically around the room.

_No…I won't be caught off guard! I can't afford to lose this fight – especially not to Suichi!_

Swiftly, the psychic covered his mouth to prevent himself from accidentally saying anything aloud. _I will not lose…_he told himself, _I will not lose!_

Mai turned her head when she noticed Kurama lowering himself from the chandelier. His feet hooked over the edge and she stared at him in disbelief.

_What the hell is he doing…? _She blinked as she looked down below them, _eh…?_

It was then that she realized that Kaitou was standing almost directly beneath the light fixture, still trying desperately not to be caught off guard. But as the akage lowered himself back down into the room, it suddenly occurred to her what he was doing, and her eyes flickered quickly back to the list sitting at the center of the table. Red marks slashed through almost all of the letters, and her eyes narrowed slightly as she turned towards the clock.

_Only two letters left…_

_I will not lose. I will not lose. I will not lose. I will not lose!_ Kaitou screamed inwardly over and over again. Yet, ironically, he was so enthralled in being prepared, he didn't seem to notice Kurama hanging down directly behind him.

The akage blinked as he lifted his hands to his mouth, and he drew in a deep breath—

"_BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!_"

Kaitou nearly screamed in surprise – but quickly covered his mouth tighter and clenched his eyes. Above them, Mai blinked stupidly at the scene below and noticed out of the corner of her eye, the list instantaneously cross out the letter 'B'. The psychic beneath her shook furiously as he tried with all his might not to make a single noise, but his curiosity quickly clasped the better of him.

Slowly, the dark-haired teen turned around to face Kurama – and his face suddenly contorted, since now, he tried not to laugh at the ridiculous expression on the akage's face. But even still, a small snicker escaped him, and then a giggle…until he completely burst out altogether.

"Heh-heh ha…BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

From below her, a bright flash emitted from Kaitou's body and his laughter was cut short. She carefully peered over the ledge of the chandelier just in time to see the psychic's stone-cold body fall backwards and crash to the ground. And in a twisted turn of fate, _his_ soul now hovered above his body.

Kurama lifted himself back up onto the chandelier and smiled slightly towards her, before he gestured back down to the floor beneath him. They both jumped back down into the forest of greenery below (which was slowly beginning to recede back into the original corners of the room).

As they landed, Mai noticed with a start that the souls hovering in front of their three companions…were beginning to draw back into their bodies. As the orbs of light retreated back into the statues, their bodies slowly began to unfreeze. From where their souls had entered, the color of their clothing began to come back, and spread across the other surfaces of their body. Until – at once – all three of them nearly fell forward as they grew conscious once again.

"Thank goodness!" Botan cried suddenly as she recovered, "I was afraid I'd be stuck like that forever!"

Kuwabara scratched the back of his neck, but stopped suddenly when he noticed Kaitou's body sitting not too far away, "Ew…what happened to him?" he wondered as he shied away.

"He fell prey to his own territory," Kurama answered. He pulled from his pocket the key to the other room, "And now, I think Yusuke has waited long enough," he said as he turned towards the corridor behind them. The rest of the group followed (with a sulking Hiei at the back).

The akage knelt down next to Yana's body.

"Yanagisawa-_san_," he called.

The second psychic's body stirred slightly and he groaned as he lifted his face up from the ground. He blinked, and suddenly jumped to his feet. His eyes darted back into the room behind them where Kaitou's body still sat motionless. Deducting what had happened, he frowned towards the group in front of him before he motioned towards the door.

"You're all lucky we never planned for you guys to make it this far…" he muttered under his breath as Kurama handed him the key.

As he opened the door, they were immediately greeted with a blast of cool air. Both Mai and Botan sighed with relief as they stepped over the threshold, and the ferry-girl wiped her forehead with her hand.

"Well that's a whole lot better!" she said cheerfully.

Yana moved ahead of them, and it was then that they noticed that on the other wall, were five doors – each a different color. The group stepped further inside the room almost cautiously as the psychic moved to stand next to the first door.

"Mr. Urameshi and Kido are both upstairs," he told them and smiled smugly, "But to get to them, you each must take a separate staircase through each of these doors. They all lead to the same place…if that makes you feel any better…"

Hiei snorted, "Then what's the point of separating us if they all end up at the same destination…?" he challenged darkly.

The psychic smiled again, "Just another game…"

"But hey…how are we supposed to know if we're all 'okay' if we're separated?" Kuwabara asked, and frowned at the thought, "How do we know _these_ guys," he gestured over his shoulder at Yana, "Won't just attack us while we're not together?"

"We don't…" the akage answered seriously, and his eyes narrowed towards the psychic, "But we have to play by their rules, or Yusuke might not even be there when we get upstairs—"

"He sure as hell better be there!" Mai shouted suddenly and clenched her fist, "I still have to beat his ass for getting kidnapped in the first place!"

Behind her, the ferry-girl was thinking to herself carefully – and then her eyes suddenly flickered to the briefcase still in her hand. She blinked, and out of the blue, started to rummage through the case; fervently looking for something.

The guardian turned and blinked as well, "Botan…what are you doing…?"

"Getting these!" she answered cheerfully as she withdrew – what looked like – several coasters from her briefcase.

"And _what_ are those?" Hiei muttered as he eyed them suspiciously.

She smiled and held them in her hand, "They're used to tell the condition of a person," she told the group and lifted one up to show them, "When the patch is blue, it means the person is in perfect health! When it's red it means they're sick or injured…but then when it's black it means that their, um, dead…"

Kazuma blinked, "So what do we do with 'em?" he wondered.

Botan grinned, "Well that's the easy part! All you have to do is write your name on four of these, and stick them on me, Mai, Kurama, and Hiei – that way we'll be able to keep track of your health and everyone else's even when we're separated."

"That was a great idea Botan," Kurama applauded.

She laughed and rubbed the back of her neck, "Heh, yeah and I almost forgot too!"

"…So you write your name on them like this?" Mai wondered (oddly enough finding a pen from somewhere) as she scribbled the kanji onto the patch.

The ferry-girl nodded while the rest of them did the same. When they had all written their names she said, "Okay…now all we have to do is apply them to one another – that way no one else can take them off, it has some sort of DNA sensor, you know?"

As the four of them attached the patches to one another, they all simultaneously turned towards Hiei.

He glared at them murderously; as if daring them to even try—

"Alright Hiei, it's your turn!" Botan chimed as she grinned, "Here let me see your shirt—"

When she reached out, he instantly grabbed her arm, "Touch me…" he growled, "And I break your wrist…"

The ferry-girl sweatdropped nervously as the shorter apparition glared fiercely at her – but this only gave Kurama time to step in and stick his patch onto Hiei's shirt…the rest of them quickly followed as the apparition only watched in a mix of disbelief and pure fury.

"Then we're all set!" Botan said almost cheerfully as they all moved towards their separate doors.

All in unison, they placed their hands on the handles and glanced at one another uncertainly. But at the same time the doors clicked open, and revealed five separate staircases leading above them. They all looked at one another a final time; Botan and Mai smiled uncertainly at one another and Kuwabara almost looked like he was about to wet himself…

"Well…" Kurama said, and offered a small smile, "I guess we'll see each other upstairs."

-:-

"…_bsh…shkkrk…_"

Kido blinked and glanced down at his side. He fiddled with his belt before he withdrew a small walkie-talkie from his pocket. Yusuke glared at him as he lifted the speaker to his mouth.

The detective snorted, "If you're both psychic, why do you need a walkie-talkie?" he wondered brazenly, "Can't you just talk to each other 'telepathically'?"

He shot him a look "What's that, Yana?" he called through – easily ignoring Urameshi's statement. He listened for a moment to the static crackling from the other end.

"_They're on their way up, Kido_," returned the voice.

"Hah!" Yusuke shouted triumphantly, "I guess your friend wasn't all as powerful as you though him to be! Now my friends are gonna be up here any minute to kick your ass – just like I said! So what are you gonna do when they get up here? You can't step on all their shadows at once, now can you?"

The psychic calmly hooked the radio back to his belt…and smirked.

Urameshi frowned irritable, "_Oi_, what are you so happy about…?" he muttered.

But the other teen didn't answer him…

-:-

_Well these definitely aren't normal stairs…_Kurama thought to himself as he continued upward. The further his walked, the more it occurred to him that he wasn't getting any closer to the doorway above him. It was like one of those dreams where you would walk and walk…but you'd never get anywhere.

But – judging already by the nature of the house – something like this was expected anywhere…

-:-

Kuwabara tried to pace himself as he continuously circled around his set of stairs. His happened to spiral upwards to the point where he didn't even think it had an ending point. But almost every other second, he would glance down at his shirt to make sure everyone else was okay.

As he glanced back up the path in front of him, he made a sickly face, "Ugh…I'm getting dizzy…"

-:-

The shorter apparition's eyes flashed over the staircase ahead of him. He frowned suspiciously as he began making is way upstairs. Hiei sure as hell didn't trust this house, especially – he hated to admit – after actually getting his soul sucked out in that last room.

_The fox will never let me hear the end of it_…he muttered inwardly—

Suddenly, he realized that there was no longer solid ground beneath him. His eyes darted downward just in time to see the floor open up beneath him – and he fell through into the dark abyss below.

-:-

Botan made a face, "Oh my…I-I think I'm going to be sick…" she hardly dared to open her eyes in fear of finding herself upside down again. The ferry-girl – just like the others – had quickly realized that these were not normal stairs; hers just happened to enjoy flipping her upside down and right-side up again at the most bizarre times.

-:-

"Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap!" Mai cried hysterically as she raced up the stairs. Behind her, she could still hear the rest of the staircase falling apart into the infinite ground below. But each time she stepped on a stair, it instantly gave way – and she ran even faster.

She sweatdropped frantically as she ran; "Why couldn't Hiei have had these stairs?"

-:-

Kido turned his head towards the door and smiled, "You're friends are here, Urameshi…"

The detective turned instantly just as Kurama entered through the doorway. He was closely followed by Kuwabara, then Hiei, Botan – and then a heavily panting Mai (who looked unbelievably grateful to be back on solid ground again).

"So you guys are all alright!" he called to them.

Mai instantly got to her feet, "No thanks to you! The reason we had to go through all of this was 'cause _you_ had to go get kidnapped in the first place!" she suddenly whirled on the psychic standing nearby, "And you! You better release him so I can beat his ass!"

Kido laughed, "I will in just a moment, be patient…"

"_Oi!_ Urameshi I thought you were captured!" Kazuma shouted angrily, "And if you are then how come you're just standing there doing nothing—!"

"Don't come any closer, Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted angrily, "If he steps on your shadow he can stop you guys from moving…though I wish _I_ had learned that sooner."

Mai narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "So _that's_ how you got kidnapped," she muttered.

The psychic laughed, "You're so kind to warn your friends, Urameshi," he said, "But I'm afraid I'm not your opponent anymore…there is one here that is not who they say they are..._they_ are your new opponent…"

The detective stared at him, "_Nani_?"

"The next round starts, Yusuke. One of the five who have come to rescue you, is a fake. You have only ten minutes to figure out which on it is…all you can do is ask questions, and they can only answer…"

Botan blinked, "But how can one of us be the fake?" she asked, dumbfounded.

Beside her, the redhead nodded, "Yeah, we were only separated for a few minutes!"

Kido smirked, "You misunderstand…" he said calmly, "One of you is a fake…therefore we have the real one hostage somewhere in this house. Mr. Urameshi isn't the only hostage now."

Yusuke gritted his teeth furiously, "What happens to them if I can't guess in ten minutes?" he asked darkly; his fist clenched at his side.

The psychic didn't answer. He looked down at his watch though, and smiled, "You have nine minutes now, Mr. Urameshi…" his eyes flashed towards him, "So will you play…? Or just wait for the time to run out and see what happens to your friend?"

He clenched his fist again, "Yeah, I'll do it," he muttered. Instantly, he whirled back towards the group and turned towards Kuwabara, "Hey, what's your blood type and birthday?" he called to him.

Kazuma blinked, "What the hell does that mean? Are you trying to say you think _I'm _the fake, Urameshi?"

"Just shut up and answer, Kuwabara."

The redhead growled under his breath irritably, before he suddenly blinked, "Hey…you don't even know my blood type or my birthday! What kind of question is that!"

Yusuke, satisfied (since – even after all these years – he really _didn't _know his birthday), he turned then to the second redhead, "Kurama, what's your mom's name?"

The akage smiled, "Minamino Shiori, forty years of age, she plans to remarry this autumn."

"Ah! Congratulations, Kurama!" Mai said cheerfully.

"Yeah, you should be sure to invite us to the wedding!" Yusuke said – quickly forgetting the matter at hand. But when he noticed Kido's eyes still on his watch, he quickly turned to the ferry-girl next, "Alright, Botan…what are your measurements?"

She nearly blanched, "What do you need to know that for?" she said accusingly, "You don't even know, anyway!"

"No, you told me that one time…remember?" he said and raised his eyebrows.

Botan eyed him suspiciously as she thought about it, but then she turned to him angrily, "What are you talking about Yusuke! I never told you!"

The detective swore slightly under his breath, "Damn, I was sure that was going to work…"

Mai's face dropped, "You're such a perv, Yusuke…"

Hiei snorted and folded his arms over his chest, "We're never going to get anywhere with you asking stupid questions like that, detective."

He turned towards the apparition, "Alright, Hiei you're next…" he thought for a moment before he smirked, "What's your sister's name?"

The apparition's eyes flashed murderously at the detective. For a second, Yusuke thought he wasn't going to answer, but then Hiei snorted again and closed his eyes, "Why should I answer when everyone else in the room already knows the answer?"

Kuwabara blinked, "Wait, the shrimp has a sister? Geez, she must be some badass _youkai_ with an attitude, like yours."

Botan and Mai looked at each other, "Oh that's right…" the ferry-girl said, "Kazuma's the only one who doesn't know—"

"Botan, shhhh!" the guardian quickly hushed her.

Kurama turned his eyes on Hiei seriously, and the apparition glared at him.

"Don't look at me like that," he muttered.

"WHY AM I THE ONLY PERSON WHO DOESN'T KNOW?" Kuwabara demanded and whirled on Hiei, "Darn it, just say it already!"

Kido glanced at his watch, "Five minutes," he said calmly.

"I'll tell you later, Kuwabara," Kurama told him hastily as his eyes flickered briefly towards the psychic.

Yusuke finally turned to Mai and thought for a moment. She watched him almost nervously after witnessing the questions he had already asked Botan, "So what kind of underwear are you wearing?"

…

"URAMESHI YOU PERVERTED ASS! _WHAT THE HELL KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT_?" she screamed furiously and found that Kurama and Kuwabara had to hold her down to keep her from mauling the detective.

"Oh I see…" he mused casually, "So it's a thong…?"

She clenched her fist ferociously, "_URAMESHI_!"

"Four minutes…" Kido reminded them coolly.

"Urameshi! Hurry it up and make a decision!" Kuwabara cried frantically (while he and Kurama still struggled to hold the guardian down).

Yusuke gritted his teeth, "You know, I would if I could! But I don't know who the hell it is—!" he blinked abruptly and stopped short. The detective suddenly pointed at the patches on each of their shirts, "What the hell are those?" he wondered.

Botan scoffed, "Well you should know! It's one of the spirit items I told you about earlier!"

He looked at her dumbly and she sighed.

"They monitor a person's health," she explained, "But only the person who applied them can…take them off…" she blinked suddenly as a thought occurred to her. The five of them instantly glanced at one another, "So the fake won't be able to take them off!"

The group simultaneously formed a circle around each other and position themselves next to their appropriate sticker.

"Ready?" Kurama asked.

At the same time, the all pulled…

And all the patches came cleanly off.

They stared nearly horrified at one another…_But how…?_

Hiei frowned darkly, "Then the imposter must have been with us before we put on those damn patches…" he muttered.

But Kido smiled, "That's a good guess…but no. It's part of Yanagisawa's power 'Copy'. He can make an exact duplicate of a person he touches, and take their appearance, memories, powers, and everything that has to do with them – right down to the type of _ki_ they use, and how it feels…" he turned to the detective, "One of your friends, Mr. Urameshi, is Yana in disguise…I hope you know which one it is, because your time is up."

Yusuke gritted his teeth, and he clenched his fist furiously at his side.

"The only way to tell if you are right however, is to punch the one you think is the fake as hard as you can – only through a hard punch can Yana be knocked out of his copied form against his will…"

Behind him, the group simultaneously winced at the thought.

The psychic smirked, "I advise you put some _reiki_ into your punch…"

Urameshi clenched his fist, "Mind telling me why the hell you guys are doing all this?" he muttered through gritted teeth.

His opponent smiled, "I was asked by someone to do it…and I'm happy to oblige. But be warned, Mr. Urameshi…" he pulled out of his pocket a small phone, "…If you try anything funny, one little push of a button and my partners will kill off your friend in an instant."

Kido suddenly stepped off his shadow, and the detective staggered.

"You have thirty seconds…" the psychic said coolly, "…I advise you hit one or I'll just have to tell my friends to kill the real one…" he checked his watch a final time and smirked, "_Fifteen_ seconds…"

Yusuke snorted, "Heh, I don't need fifteen seconds," he muttered, "I've made my choice – I just hope they can forgive me when I punch their lights out."

His fist flared suddenly in _ki _– and he charged.

The group flinched in unison as he raced towards them—

And Yusuke's fist slammed into Kuwabara's gut. The redhead fell flying backwards and crashed painfully in the wall behind him into a pile of cardboard boxes. As the group turned in astonishment, they found that the contours of Kazuma's face began to change until they suddenly morphed into the features of Yana…

Kido stared in disbelief, "But…how did you know?"

Urameshi shrugged as he cracked his knuckles, "I'm used to hitting Kuwabara all the time…besides, Kurama and Hiei aren't dumb enough to fall into a trap like that…"

The akage smiled and turned to Hiei, "Yes, or scream the word 'Hot'," he added.

The apparition beside him glared murderously, "Hn."

"That left Botan, Mai and Kuwabara…" the detective continued as he counted off on his fingers, "Now I know Mai would've beaten the crap out of anyone who tried to touch her, and picking Botan off because she was the only non-fighter would have just gotten all you and your buddies a one-way-ticket to hell…"

Botan's eyes lit up, "Aw! My hero!"

"So then there was Kuwabara – and he was the safest bet anyway."

Mai narrowed her eyes towards him, "But what if it _wasn't _Kuwabara?" she demanded.

He blinked and then grinned sheepishly, "But it _was_ Kuwabara," he told her.

The detective received a smart smack to the arm for that as Kurama stepped forward to face Kido.

"We've played by all your rules and games," he said seriously and he frowned, "Give us back Kuwabara so that we may fight you on even grounds."

But the psychic already held up his hands and sighed, "It's over anyway – and yes, we will return your friend…" his eyes flickered suddenly as he raised another remote from his pocket, "But first, I would like to show you who was behind all this…"

His finger fell on one of the buttons, and behind him, a mechanical door began to creak open. From beneath the shadows, there were footsteps…and a single figure emerged.

In unison, both Mai and Yusuke gaped.

"_Master Genkai?_"

-:-

a/n: Geez that was a long chapter (n.n);; I haven't written one of those since the fights from the Dark tournament…

GAH! My computer mouse is being all weird…and I gots to go study…

A lot (n.n);;

PEACE AND LOVE _MINNA-SAN!_


	5. Poltergeist

DISCLAIMER: I do not own YYH – but all of my original characters and twists to the story line are mine.

a/n: Alright everyone, I don't mean to nag or anything—but desperate times call for desperate measures.

When my hit count on my status page says that '54' people have tuned into chapter 4 and only two people have reviewed…It's kinda depressing in a way T.T;; Honestly, I don't care what you people put in your reviews…but just a little 'Good chapter!' every once in awhile means a lot (hell, you can even criticize if you want (keep in mind, I still might not change anything) but I still love to hear what you guys have to say – even if you hate it n.n)

But if you guys decide not to review now, I know it was my fault for nagging n.n;; (or, at the very least, you might have some computer problems – but something tells me that it's not very possible for 52 of you to have computer issues at the same time)

Anyway, _gomen nasai_ if that came out the wrong way n.n;; I would just like to know if you want me to continue with the story. Because if you don't, it's really no skin off my back – but you should at least tell me, right?

Ahhhh! Geez, I'm getting carried away now, aren't I? Haha, sorry! ANYwhos! Merry (belated) Christmas to everyone and Happy New Year! I know I'm a little late for both, but I tried T.T

Enjoy!

_Thoughts_

_Forever Fornever III_

:Poltergeist:

Kido dropped to his knees as the old woman stepped out from behind the shadows. He buried his faced in the ground as she walked past him, "Please forgive us, Master Genkai…" he asked her quickly.

She snorted without even looking at him, "Don't apologize, Kido," she said.

From in front of her, Kurama let out a small laugh of surprise, "Ah, so my hunch was correct…" he mused aloud and calmly place his hands inside of his pockets while both Mai and Botan stared at him curiously. Yusuke continued to gape at Genkai ("_Who the hell puts their students through something like this!_") as the guardian blinked and turned back towards the Genkai and the psychic still bowed humbly at the ground.

Mai suddenly snapped her fingers, "So that's it!" she exclaimed and knelt down beside the blonde-haired teen, "You, Kaitou, and Yana were the ones at Genkai's earlier today! I knew I recognized the lot of you from somewhere!"

"You just _now_ remembered this, _onna_?" Hiei muttered in disbelief.

Botan frowned though, "But then how did _you_ know Master Genkai was behind all of this?" she asked the redhead standing next to her.

Kurama smiled, "Ever since we walked through the door, I have sensed a _ki_ similar to Genkai's – Not to mention that for this entire time, we have been up against opponents that clearly had the ability to kill us…and yet they didn't," He gestured casually towards Yusuke as he continued, "And on top of that, they kidnapped Yusuke and threatened him…but never asked for anything in return."

"I wondered about that too…" Mai said as she turned towards the akage, "I mean, who would possibly want to kidnap him in the first place?"

"_Oi_!" the detective whirled on her, "I wholly resent that!"

The redhead went on while the guardian punched Urameshi fiercely over the head, "But what I believe gave it away was the simple fact that Kaitou and the others knew all about our skills and lives as reikai tantei," he smiled again as his eyes turned towards Genkai, "Only two other people know so much about us…and Koenma is in Reikai," he made a curt nod with his head, "It's very nice to see you again, Master Genkai."

Yusuke massaged his scalp with a small growl, "I still don't understand how you didn't recognize these guys earlier, Mai," he muttered to the guardian – and quickly scuttled out of the way when she made a move to hit him again.

Hiei snorted and turned back to the old woman, "Was there any purpose to all of this, old hag? Or was this another one of your stupid ploys," he muttered dangerously.

She ignored this comment and lowered her head for a moment. When she finally lifted her eyes, she turned to address the team seriously, "You five may be the most powerful people alive right now…but there are still those with special abilities who are weaker," her eyes narrowed darkly, "But that doesn't mean they can't use their powers to kill you…"

Genkai snorted in amusement briefly before her eyes flickered briefly to Botan and Hiei.

"If you had used that lump three feet above your ass, you would've held onto your soul," her eyes flickered to the apparition, "Make that two feet for you, Hiei,"

He clenched his fist furiously as Yusuke laughed hysterically, "Are you for real? You actually let those jerks steal your soul – show some skill!"

The old woman whirled on him, "Oh? And what about you, dimwit? You're no different for getting your ass kidnapped!"

Urameshi snorted and waved her off, "Ah, I don't have to worry about that kind of crap…I'll easily be able to find out my opponent's abilities—!"

"Do you honestly think an opportunity like that will happen?" Genkai shouted furiously at him, "A true opponent won't just openly display what ability they have, you idiot!"

The detective blinked and glanced quickly towards Kido, "You mean to tell me…" he muttered as he turned back towards Genkai, "That these guys aren't 'true opponents'? Well then who or what the hell are they supposed to be!" he demanded.

She held his gaze, unmoving, "Kido can explain to you that one."

The psychic sat back and finally stood, "Yana, Kaitou, and I have all just recently received these special abilities…that's why we came to Master Genkai for help, and how we know so much about all of you," He closed his eyes for a moment, "She asked us to set this up, because – like us – she believes there are others out there like us…"

Botan frowned slightly, "But why is it that you just recently got these powers?" she wondered.

"That…" Genkai cut in carefully, "Is due to the effect of the tunnel leading to Makai," she said darkly as the room abruptly grew silent at the thought, "That tunnel – which separates the demon world from Ningenkai – is opening…just as Sakyou wanted it too…"

"_NANI?_"

"Master Genkai, that can't be possible!" Mai cried frantically; exclaiming the same reaction as everyone else, "Sakyou died when the stadium collapsed two months ago!"

The elderly woman didn't answer her. Instead, her eyes flickered behind her suddenly and the rest of the team followed her gaze as Kuwabara suddenly appeared from where Genkai had appeared earlier. In unison they all blinked – and Yusuke snorted as he tried to conceal his fit of laughter. It appeared – quite visually – that Yana had stolen Kazuma's clothes since now the redhead stood before them only in a pair of bright red boxers.

"So I guess you've answered that ever-impending question, Kuwabara," Yusuke mused, "Boxers or briefs?"

"Ah, shut it Urameshi!" he growled irritably, "It's not my fault that jerk stole my clothes!" he gestured towards Yana (who was slowly beginning to recover from Yusuke's blow) and promptly stormed over and started demanding his clothes back.

But Genkai brought their attention back.

"When Sakyou died, the ideals he believed in were taken up by someone else…who is now responsible for the tunnel…"

Kurama's eyes narrowed seriously, "I had heard there was a portal that let _youkai_ slip into Ningenkai…but I never thought it really existed," he scratched the back of his neck, "But that's only because that's not the way I came into Ningenkai…"

Mai blinked, "What's that supposed to mean?" she wondered; clueless.

"Ohhhhh…that's right, Kurama," Botan whispered, "She's never been around when Youko has appeared…" she blinked, "Hm, I wonder why that is…" she added thoughtfully and tapped her chin.

"Does any one else find that slightly convenient?" Kuwabara asked from behind them.

"Uh, I'll explain later, Mai," Yusuke reassured her while he scratched the back of his head.

The guardian looked as though she was about to protest, but Hiei suddenly cut her off.

"Let me assure all of you, if a portal like that really does exist…I'll be going back to Makai very soon," he informed them as he snorted in amusement and folded his arms over his chest.

Urameshi frowned, "Well supposedly where is this tunnel?" he asked as he turned to Genkai.

She folded her arms as well and closed her eyes calmly, "Mushiyori City," she told him. And there was a silence through the room, as the same question seemed to hang over everyone's head.

"But how can it cover an entire city?"

-:-

The water within the aquarium rippled as the apartment door opened. From within the shadows of the hallway emerged a tall, dark-haired man, and without a word, he shed off a black trench coat – similar to the shirt beneath. He tossed the jacket on the nearby chair and made his way to the window on the other side of the room.

But from inside the aquarium, a pair of misshapen eyes followed him across the room. They blinked at him before an eerie cackle rippled an echo through the water.

"So you're back already?" the eyes asked eagerly, "Then how are preparations going?"

The man dropped calmly in the large armchair facing the window stretching from the ceiling to the floor. His finders laced around the arm rest slowly.

But his voice seemed distant as he said, "Just as planned, _Ani_…"

The eyes inside the fish tank flickered when he noticed the dark-haired man's hand reach slowly out towards a single picture frame sitting in front of him. That same picture that had, for some reason, captivated him every night. But the eyes narrowed swiftly when I flash of lighting stretched across the sky illuminated the photo…

-:-

_BEEP.Beep.BEEP.Beep._

Botan jumped in surprise and nearly dropped the case in her hands. The rest of the team watched as she fumbled with the briefcase and was eventually able to pop it open – and in the same instant, Koenma's face appeared on the screen inside.

The demigod seemed rather anxious, "Botan? Where are Yusuke and Mai? I need to talk to all three of you—"

"We're all here, Koenma," Genkai cut in swiftly, "You were calling about the tunnel to Makai, weren't you?"

He blinked, "Wh-Wha…How did you know all of this already?" he demanded in disbelief.

The older woman snorted slightly, "The tunnel has started to influence the power of _ningens. _There have been three already that have come with powers developed from the growth of the tunnel…" she informed him, "And even more have come to the temple in the mountains asking for help. Everyone who has come to me came from Mushiyori…"

Koenma thought for a moment and rubbed his temple in thought, "Then it seems that it hasn't reached outside the city; it's not as bad as it could be, then…" he sighed wearily as he turned back to them, "But nonetheless, it's probably worse than I've feared…Judging by these events, the tunnel has probably already reached it's second stage…"

The detective in front of him frowned, "What do you mean 'second stage'? What the hell happened to the first stage!"

But the toddler watched him seriously, "I'm not sure if you're ready to handle what I would tell you…as it is one of Reikai's biggest kept secrets—"

"DAMMIT! Just tell us already, diaper-boy!" he shouted angrily and looked as though he was about to attack the screen if he didn't. Which, to Mai and Kuwabara, looked rather odd as it was that neither of them could see nor hear the demigod on the other end of the connection.

Koenma narrowed his eyes seriously, but the more he stalled, the more Yusuke seemed to anger. With a final sigh, he bowed his head, "The tunnel between Makai and Ningenkai has four stages to it. The first…it begins to open slightly and allow Makai insects in as the worlds begin to connect. The second stage is that humans will gain special powers that are influenced by the tunnel opening," his tone began to darken as he continued, "The third stage is that _youkai _of D-Class and below may freely enter Ningenkai, to do what they want with _ningens_…And then the final stage…That is when the radius of the tunnel to Makai reaches half a kilometer…_then_ it begins."

Nervously, Botan asked, "What comes after that…?"

The demigod watched the group darkly, "Then _youkai_ of C-Class and B-Class would also freely entire into Ningenkai to do as they wish…" A chart suddenly appeared beside him on the screen, showing the descending letters 'A', 'B', 'C', and 'D', "In Reikai, the power of _youkai_ are divided and ranked into classes. An example: Toguro…he was a B-Class apparition."

On instinct, Yusuke's eyes widened in horror. And at the same time, his hand began to tremble beside him, "Toguro…was a B-Class?" he whispered in disbelief. His mind reeled as visions of haunting memories flashed through his head; those of the bleeding body of his teacher and his guardian flashed across his eyes while a thin layer of sweat perspired at his brow. But suddenly, his hand clenched and he furiously turned back to the screen, "You've got to be kidding me!" he shouted, "Toguro was so powerful – and he was only a B-Class?"

Kazuma and Mai glanced at one another in confusion.

"I…wonder was Koenma-_dono_ is talking about…" the guardian said quietly.

Kuwabara glanced down at her, only to find her face shadowed by a veil of her crimson hair. But nonetheless, he was able to see her face pale considerably at the sudden memory as it flashed through her mind as well. The past held the same feeling for him too…only his feelings about it were more of a type of guilt than anything else…It made him sick to his stomach whenever he thought of how he could only just sit there and watch her die—

The demigod was quiet for a long time, "What we are in right now is only the start. The portal to Makai is very large and deep…and expands several surfaces past the entry point. Where we're at in the progress is only the first half of the first level," He met Yusuke's gaze and held it gravely, "In Makai – past all these surfaces – there exist _youkai_ with the rank of A-Class…and a class that even surpasses the A-Class…the S-Class _youkai_," he sighed heavily, "Even Reikai doesn't meddle with the S-Class…"

Genkai moved closer towards the screen, "Koenma, do you at least have a plan B in case Yusuke and the others don't stop whoever is opening the portal?"

He nodded, "Yes…long ago Reikai created a barrier that allows only monsters of B-Class and below to pass through…But they wouldn't make it to Ningenkai unless the tunnel was open. A and S-Class apparitions are not capable of passing through the barrier," and as a demonstration, an animation appeared, showing the C and B-Class demons passing through a net-like barrier while the A and S-Class demons bounced back.

Koenma stared down at his hands, "Imagine if just B and A-Class apparitions made it through…" he said quietly, "And if the S-Class were to get through – it would be a complete massacre of the human race…as some people would call it, an apocalypse."

"_Oi_! Urameshi, what's he saying? _Urameshi!_" Kuwabara cried frantically. But they all seemed to ignore him – or at least they were too intent on what the demigod was saying to hear him at all. After a little while of trying, he sighed and gave up, "Well I tried…"

"It's alright, Kazuma…" Mai assured him as she calmly sat down on the floor, "They'll tell us when Koenma-_dono_ is done…" but even so, her gaze seemed focused on the rest of their team, as if she could just listen hard enough, she'd be able to hear the conversation.

Kuwabara watched her for a moment, before he sighed again and sat down next to her.

-:-

The dark-haired man's eyes flickered behind him, "What's wrong, Toguro?" he asked quietly.

The aquarium shifted uneasily as the pair of eyes studied the photograph still held between the man's fingertips. Another flash of lightning illuminated the room and the frame was lit up once again – and Toguro felt sure of it now.

"The little on in that picture…"

He blinked and followed Toguro's gaze. An emotionless smile crept along his face. He closed his eyes and suddenly dropped the frame face-first onto the table without so much as a flinch. "Ah…They died…" he answered slowly, "…a long time ago,

"I killed them"

But Toguro was not mistaken…he had seen those electrifying eyes from somewhere. They had been on the body of that…that little _whore_…

_Her _pupil…

Another cackle suddenly emitted and rippled through the aquarium, and the apparition – or what clearly remained of him after being catapulted from the stadium two months prior – closed his eyes calmly with a hint of smugness.

"Ah…Sensui-san…"

The man's gaze flickered behind him to the tank.

"I believe…she is very much alive."

-:-

"_WHAT?_ You can't be serious!"

The group simply stared as Kuwabara suddenly reacted over Koenma's news, after they had been able to relay it to him. Even Mai had to inch away slightly in case he accidentally trampled her on his frantic rampage.

"You mean _youkai_ as strong as Toguro will be running around freely if this tunnel between Makai and Ningenkai opens? I mean, will only the C and B-Class be able to get – AH! But if the S-Class are so strong that even Reikai won't mess with them, what are we gonna do?" he cried frenetically, "_Is this the end of everything?_"

Genkai sighed, "Just calm down already…" she told him and turned towards the staircase, "We'll continue this after we give Kaitou back his soul."

Kido blinked as the rest of the group followed after the elderly woman, "Kaitou lost his soul?" he asked in disbelief.

"Uh, yeah…That's kind of how they made it up here," Yusuke told him as he placed his hands behind his head and followed behind Mai. Together, they made their way back down to the first floor of the house where the dark-haired psychic still lay on the floor with his soul hovering above him.

The older woman moved next to his body, "Just back away," she told everyone else. They all quickly obliged as she closed her eyes. Her foot slid back and her hands formed several different shapes before she suddenly opened her eyes and cried out. She slammed her hand on top of the tiny glowing orb; forcing it into the psychic's body.

At first, the entire room went silent…but then little by little, the color returned to Kaitou's face and the rest of his body. Until he finally began to twitch, he lifted himself off the ground and held his head in his hand. He glanced up around him and noticed both Yusuke and Genkai were now amongst the reikai tantei.

"Ah, so you all succeeded then…" he nodded in acknowledgement, "Congratulations."

Mai frowned slightly though as she studied him, "But…Kaitou, how is it that you weren't able to put your own soul back into your body?" she wondered in confusion.

"When a soul is taken from its body, in all technical aspects, they are dead," Genkai explained suddenly, "They do not go to Reikai, but they're dead nonetheless."

The psychic rose to his feet and casually brushed off his pants, "And I thank you for returning mine," he told the elderly woman. But then he turned back to the group and offered a short bow, "I apologize for not fully, and properly introducing myself to all of you earlier…we were under, er, difficult circumstances," He made a curt nod, "Yuu Kaitou, and I have the ability of Taboo."

Kido stepped forward next, "Asato Kido, and my power is over Shadow."

"And Mitsunari Yanagisawa," Yana answered next, "My ability is called Copy."

"They are all citizens of Mushiyori," Genkai told the tantei, "And they say they discovered their abilities about a month ago…"

Kurama's eyes widened, "A month?" he repeated in disbelief, "But that was hardly after the conclusion of the Dark Tournament…" he concluded in shock.

"Dammit," Yusuke growled, "That only means that the tunnel was already at its second stage then—"

_BEEP.Beep.BEEP.Beep._

Almost ready this time, Botan placed her briefcase back on the floor and flipped it open. The demigod appeared once again on the screen inside – only this time looking, quite possibly, even more fretful than he had been earlier.

"It appears as though the tunnel between Makai and Ningenkai is increasing at an alarming rate," he quickly informed them, "If this rate is allowed to continue, the tunnel will be fully open and at stage four in hardly three weeks…"

-:-

The man closed his eyes slowly and smiled, "You don't think I remember killing a gentle face like hers? Don't jest with me, Toguro…" he told the apparition quietly.

But he laughed, "I don't jest," he insisted as a deviant gleam flashed across his eyes, "If you don't believe me…just search for her life energy, I'm sure you'll be surprised at what you find…"

The dark-haired man sitting in the armchair grew silent as his flickered back towards the picture frame.

-:-

Yusuke's body went suddenly numb. A sickly thought raced across his mind as the idea of _youkai_ equal to Toguro in strength would be escaping and running wild around Ningenkai…and there would be nothing he could do to prevent it…

"Koenma!" the detective shouted suddenly as he turned back towards the monitor, "Tell me, is there any way to stop the tunnel from opening? Or at least a way of blocking it?"

On the screen, a map of Mushiyori City suddenly appeared next to Koenma, "In there…" he said carefully, "There is a hole that is the tunnel. At this point, it's almost 1.3 kilometers wide…But if it exceeds two kilometers, there is no stopping it. You'll have to destroy the middle of the gap and it should close the tunnel…"

"Fine," Urameshi muttered instantly, "Just tell me when you find the location of the very center – and you three," he turned towards the three psychics in front of him, "You are going to take me to Mushiyori so I can defeat the guy who trying to open the tunnel—"

Genkai closed her eyes in irritation, "Don't be rash, Yusuke," she warned. The detective whirled and looked as though he was about to make some snide comment, but the elderly woman suddenly gripped him by the arm and threw him over her back so that he landed on his head, "Are you stupid, or what? Your brain obviously needs a thorough cleaning – or do you not remember what happened earlier? You'd be an idiot if you just rushed into a fight without knowing the skill of your enemy…"

The detective growled under his breath as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Well what the hell do you propose we do, then?" he demanded, "If we just sit here, the gap will just get bigger and bigger! We have to react quickly!"

"I actually agree with Urameshi," Kuwabara admitted.

But the older woman remained calm, "We have three weeks left. We need to find out how many enemies we're facing, who their leader is, and what special skills and territory they have," her eyes flickered towards Yusuke, "We need to know this before we do anything else…"

As she spoke, Hiei suddenly made his way towards the screen and knelt to be eye-level with the demigod. His eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Toddler," he growled, "You know about the ranks of _youkai_…I want you to tell me what class I belong to."

Koenma blanched at the thought and seemed reluctant to tell him at all. But when he glanced back at the apparition, there was some type of murderous glare that made him change his mind. He sighed regrettably and looked away.

"Currently, Hiei, you are considered to be ranked as a Mid-B-Class apparition…" he told him, "Toguro _Ototo_ was ranked as a High-B-Class."

The apparition clenched his fist, "I cannot possibly be that weak," he muttered.

The demigod blinked, "Well you should be proud, honestly. When you first fought with Yusuke, you were only a D-Class _youkai_. That's a huge improvement in just a year's time…"

Hiei sent him a dangerous glare, "Is that comment supposed to flatter me?"

He gripped the hilt of his katana furiously as he pushed himself away from the monitor. In one swift motion, he stood and moved towards the front doors.

"Where do you think you're going?" Yusuke called after him.

The apparition snorted, "I don't care what is happening to Ningenkai, nor do I care what will happen. It doesn't matter one way or the other to me."

He turned again, but this time Kazuma called after him.

"Hiei!"

Snorting, he didn't even bother turning around this time, "You all can do what you like, I don't care; I won't stop you…but I won't help you either," he didn't say anything for awhile, but then a smirk crept along his face as he inclined his head back towards them a final time, "I'm going back to Makai."

Kuwabara clenched his fist as Hiei vanished through the doors, "Dammit," he muttered, "All this time I was beginning to think he was an okay guy – but it turns out he was just an inconsiderate asshole!" he told the others angrily.

But Yusuke smiled slightly and laughed, "Ah…let him go. He doesn't have to get involved if he doesn't want to; this really isn't his home after all…"

"He's right, Kuwabara," Kurama cut in, "It really doesn't matter. If Makai and Ningenkai merged it wouldn't only affect the humans, but the demons in Makai as well…"

-:-

The dark-haired male suddenly clenched his fist and closed his eyes…and reached his hand over the discarded picture frame

-:-

_DOKUN._

Mai gasped suddenly.

Kurama turned almost instantly, just in time to see the guardian stagger backwards. In one fleeting movement, he caught her in the same motion as she fell to the ground.

The detective whirled at the sound of her slumping body, "Mai!"

"Master Genkai, what's wrong with her?" Yana asked as the older woman brushed past him – but obviously not as quickly as Yusuke, who was at her side in a matter of milliseconds after watching her fall.

The _akage_ lifted his hand to her head and frowned swiftly, "There's no fever—"

Genkai tensed suddenly as an eerie presence suddenly filled the room. Swiftly, she moved next to the guardian's body, "Kurama, Yusuke – both of you back away," she ordered as they obliged uncertainly. She knelt beside Mai and firmly pressed her index and middle finger on the area right above her heart.

With a cry, a sudden burst of energy erupted from her fingertips and rippled across the guardian's body. The elderly woman clenched her teeth slightly as she waited for the presence within the room to disperse.

-:-

Abruptly, Sensui withdrew his hand…his eyes opened slowly just as another flash of lightning lit up the night sky.

From behind him, Toguro _Ani_ cackled in delight.

-:-

Genkai let the orb of energy die at the end of her fingers and withdrew her hand.

"What the heck was that?" Kuwabara asked warily as the old woman stood and told Yusuke to pick her up off the ground, "Wait, is she going to be alright?" he asked, suddenly frantic. But Genkai ignored his incessant worrying.

"We'll all rest until tomorrow," she told all of them, and then turned to the two redheads and the detective, "By that time, she'll be fine – and then we'll send two teams into Mushiyori to see the damage…"

-:-

"You really are a piece of work, you know that?" Yusuke said quietly.

Behind him, Mai slept soundly in his bed as if nothing had even happened. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair as he leaned his head against the mattress. The moonlight streaming in from the window stretched across the floor onto his bare feet as he listened calmly to the guardian's quiet breathing behind his head.

He felt his eyes beginning to close, but he resented the oncoming sleep. It had been nerve-racking already just knowing she had no type of _ki_ to protect herself with…but now with her fainting everywhere, it didn't make it much easier on him…it's probably why he decided to sit there and make sure nothing else happened to her…

Yusuke turned his head onto the mattress and watched her sleep. He sat there for a long time, before he suddenly lifted himself off the grounded and seated himself on the edge of the mattress.

He heard his heart beating in his ears as he leaned forward.

A small smile met his lips as he realized…she smiled sort of like strawberry pocky…

The detective could feel her breath against his lips as he carefully let them meet hers…

-:-

a/n: Ah yes, feel free to criticize this chapter especially (Geez, my writing style is really out of wack…(too many English essays, I think)) But if any of you were wondering about the title, it simply had to do with Sensui's "disturbance"

Anyway…This took about a day to do after nearly a month ago O.O (whoops)

Haha, but until next time, _minna-san!_ (And seriously, even if it's criticism, I would love to hear what you guys have to say!)


	6. Nameless

DISCLAIMER: I do not own YYH – but all my original twists to the plot are mine.

a/n: Man…schools such a bummer U.U ah well, what can you do right? Hehe, but at least I still have some time to type this up! Yay!

Ah…I just want to take a nice looooong nap that lasts the rest of the week…

But it's still all good n.n !

And thank you all for reviewing! I do respond to everyone who sends a signed review (and I'm not quite sure how that works) but I think it sends it to your email address or something…

Enjoy!

_Thoughts_

_Forever Fornever III_

:Nameless:

The gravel shifted along the cavern floor. A boat sitting at the center of a small lake rocked slightly as its only occupant lifted his head. The ripples from the boat gently cradled the shore and washed up along the intruder's feet.

"Mr. Sensui…?" the man called across the lake.

He smiled – and as if the smile had words the second man nodded and lowered his head, "Is everything going as planned, Itsuki?"

Itsuki paused and frowned slightly. His hands rested calmly in his lap as an ever-growing black void hovered above him. Small bits of energy crackled along the edges of the portal…and if one would listen carefully, they could even hear the faint moans coming from the other side.

"There seems to be an unexpected barrier…" the demon said quietly, "…I did not expect there to be a blockade standing between Makai and Ningenkai; one of your spirit world's _kekkai_ barriers I presume," Sensui noticed his brow furrow a little, "My power allows me to open up the holes between dimensions…not break barriers like these," for the first time, Itsuki opened his eyes, "It will take a strong person to divide the _kekkai_ wall…"

Sensui smiled again, "…I assure you, if there is a strong enough person – I will find them…"

For a moment there was a gap of silence as the portal began to sputter with small fragments of electricity. The dark-haired man glanced down briefly at the ground before his smile slowly began to fade from his lips.

"I have also found a complication," he whispered.

The demon across the lake stiffened, but said nothing and kept his eyes closed.

Suddenly, his smile returned, "…I believe…Mr. Itsuki…We'll be receiving an unexpected visitor in a very short amount of time…"

-:-

Genkai calmly lifted open the briefcase she had borrowed from Botan earlier. The screen flickered under the cheap lighting, and Koenma's face suddenly appeared on the monitor. He blinked in surprise when he realized that, for once, it wasn't Botan calling.

"What's wrong, Genkai?" he asked her seriously.

The older woman leaned up against the back of her chair, "After you called us earlier, Mai fainted…" she informed him (but he didn't seem too surprised by the news), "She's lost all spiritual energy from the tournament; leaving her vulnerable to any attack…" she continued and her eyes flashed towards the demigod, "Someone was using her remaining energy pattern to search for her…"

Koenma stiffened suddenly and she noticed his hand tighten into a fist, "I see…"

Her eyes narrowed, "Have you been expecting this? You act as though you know who it is," she said; confronting him rather seriously.

He lowered his gaze, "No…" his insisted quietly, "But…keep an eye on her, will you?"

-:-

Sunlight danced across the floor of the detective's room. A bird chirped outside on the balcony before fluttering away to the rooftop. From the bed, Mai shifted restlessly in her sleep before she turned towards the window and blinked her eyes open.

She froze suddenly when she found Yusuke's body directly next to hers.

_Urk._

The detective stretched slightly, "Ugh…" he mumbled softly, "Five more minutes, please…" he said and rolled over onto his side.

…

"YOU PERVERT!"

A loud slap quickly followed and then the sound thump of a body hitting the floor. An instant later, and the detective was suddenly hurtled from the room, and he crashed neatly up against the wall on the other side of the hallway.

Genkai calmly walked down the hall with a tea cup in her hand, "Good morning…it seems that Mai's feeling better…"

"I…can't believe I fell asleep…" Yusuke moaned, "I should have known this would happen…"

The older woman narrowed her eyes at him, "What were you doing in her bed anyway?" she asked suspiciously, "You looked pretty comfortable on the floor last night…"

Yusuke's cheeks puffed out in agitation, "_Oi!_ For the record – that's _my_ bedroom! And just what the hell were you doing spying on me last night?" he demanded, "You act as though you don't trust me or something—"

"I was just making sure you didn't molest her or anything," she replied nonchalantly.

"—_WHAT_? I didn't molest her!" he shouted frantically, "Where the hell do you get these ideas anyway…?"

Genkai shrugged and turned back towards the kitchen, "That's what it looked like from here," she told him as she disappeared around the corner. He blinked at her in confusion before his face suddenly contorted as his cheeks burned a ferocious red.

_SHE SAW?_

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of the bedroom door creaking open. The detective turned (and flinched purely on instinct) as Mai stuck her head out into the hallway.

"I have a question…" she said slowly as she looked around, "…Why am I in your apartment?"

"Because my other house burnt down," he answered bluntly, "You fainted last night, don't you remember?"

The guardian shook her head – but then let out a small laugh and scratched the back of her head, "Ah, it must have been from the heat of Kaitou's territory though, right? It was pretty hot in there…"

She stepped back into the hallway, fully dressed in the clothes Genkai had brought for her from the temple. It didn't look much like anything Yusuke had seen her wear though. Mai stepped out into the hallway in a yellow summer dress and a small coat over it; she looked almost awkward in something like that (the only other time he had seen her in a skirt was at school).

Urameshi stared at her for a moment, but she caught him and blinked, "What?"

He blushed fiercely and looked away, "Nothing…" he mumbled.

The guardian shifted uncomfortably in her jacket and glanced down the hallway, "Did I just hear _baa-san_ out here earlier?" she wondered.

Yusuke – still blushing – nodded and gestured down the hallway, "In the kitchen – we're going to meet up with Yana and Kido later and search Mushiyori City for that tunnel. Kurama and those guys are going to start on the other side of town."

"Which means you should get your ass moving, dimwit!" called the old woman from the other room, "If you hadn't slept with Mai we might have been able to meet them on time!"

Urameshi clenched his fist and opened his mouth to retaliate, but Mai quickly ushered him back into the bedroom, "Ah – why don't you just get dressed?" she said; trying to prevent another conflict. The detective turned to say something to her, but only noticed that she was blushing furiously despite her smile – and decided to oblige.

She continued to smile even as he closed the door, and the blush still remained.

"Do you feel up to today?"

Mai jumped as Genkai suddenly appeared behind her. A little surprised, she turned shakily towards her and offered a nervous smile. She nodded, "No, I'll be fine," she insisted, "It's just…do you still want me to go with you guys – I mean, I'm not really much use to any of you. I could stay here and—"

But the older woman shook her head, "You'll be safer with our group anyway. At least we'll have four available fighters if the need be – last time I checked Kurama's group only has two," she added off-handedly, but then grew serious again when she turned back towards her, "If you were to stay here, you'd be in more danger than if you came with us."

The guardian was quiet for a moment, before she nodded slowly, "A-alright."

She watched as Mai went into the kitchen, and turned when she heard the bedroom door click open. Yusuke slipped into a dark-tinted jacket as he stepped into the hallway.

"What's the matter with her staying here?" he asked Genkai seriously as he glanced down the corridor, "What's the big deal?"

The older woman was quiet for a long time and she lowered her head.

She sighed heavily and lifted her eyes towards the detective; "You haven't noticed yet have you, Yusuke?" she said and watched him stare at her dumbly, "Ever since the tournament Mai has been abnormally weak. Just because you and the others brought her back to life doesn't mean the wound on her heart as fully healed," her eyes narrowed slightly, "With a heart condition like hers, I highly doubt she will ever be able to take place in another fight like that. The strain might even kill her."

Yusuke just stared at her…but Genkai wasn't finished.

"…I also have reason to believe," she said quietly and carefully, "That someone is searching for Mai."

-:-

The team filed out of the station into the city. Yana, Kido and Genkai led the way out onto the street – while Yusuke was careful to follow as close behind Mai as he dared. He put his hands behind his head and frowned at his feet.

Someone…was looking for Mai…? And not only that, Genkai had said she now had some sort of heart condition…

He glanced up again…but didn't quite make it all the way. Instead, his eyes seemed to lock directly on the area where Mai's dress appeared to end – and instantly, his face burnt up once again. He coughed a bit noticeably and turned this head before the guardian could turn around.

But he froze suddenly along with Kido, Yana, and Genkai at the entryway of the train station. He grimaced in disgust when he noticed grotesquely large insects floating around the city – above the heads of hundreds of civilians. There were even a few perched on top of heads – invisible to the normal human eyes.

"Geez…" Kido mumbled, "It's a good thing normal people can't see them…there'd be a huge panic if they could see all the Makai insects flying around—"

"_Bugs?_" Mai blurted suddenly in her own panic, "Holy crap – _where_?"

Yusuke stared at her in disbelief, "You're afraid of some little bugs?" he asked before suddenly realizing the irony of his statement.

She made a small, affirmative whimper as she clenched her eyes shut.

"Well it's a good thing you can't see them, then; they're everywhere."

"That doesn't help!"

"Okay fine – then I guess you probably don't mind knowing there's one on your shoulder—"

"WHAT?"

"Hey, I'm just kidding!"

_Slap!_

"You jerk! That was _not_ funny!"

"Master Genkai…" Yana started slowly, "Do they always fight like this?" he wondered as he and Kido watched the detective twitch on the ground. Mai shouted at him again when she caught him looking up her skirt and stomped on his stomach.

The old woman ignored their fight, "At relatively frequent intervals…" she told them as she walked down the street, "Those two better hurry it up; we don't have any time to waste…I doubt our enemies will just let us find them."

-:-

"Are we sure this is where that tunnel's supposed to be?" Kazuma asked as he stepped precariously over a shattered beer bottle. He looked over the empty grass field and at the randomly scattered debris across it.

Botan scratched the back of her head, "Well…technically it could be anywhere…"

He growled irritably, "Well if this _is_ the place – where's the guy opening the portal?" he asked as he kicked a can with his foot.

But Kurama shook his head, "I don't think this is it…" he said, "There's no one here for one, and there's no actual evidence that says this is the exact spot," he told them as he observed the area around the suspiciously.

Kaitou pushed his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose, "It could be possible that it's underground—"

Suddenly, Kurama's eyes flickered off to his left. In an instant, he raced off through the field with the others calling out his name. He ducked swiftly around an old, run-down shed.

"_Oi!_ Kurama!"

The _akage_ came to a sudden halt as he rounded the corner. He was breathing slightly as he stared at the empty field in front of him…just as it had been before.

"Kurama! Kurama what are you doing?" Botan called as they caught up with him.

He rubbed the back of his neck uneasily, "There was someone just here…"

The dark-haired psychic surveyed the field seriously, "It seems that whoever our enemy is…has become aware of our presence and our plans to stop them from opening the portal to Makai…No doubt they've already gone to tell their ringleader about us…"

Kuwabara frowned, "Ah…I don't think so. I someone was there, why didn't I sense any of their _ki_?"

The ferry-girl stared at him, "Maybe it's because you lost your _ki_ abilities," she teased.

He scowled, "Don't remind me…" he grumbled and folded his arms, "It's not as like I want to be powerless – if I _did_ have my powers I'd at least be able to fight or do something!"

Botan giggled, "Like protecting Mai?"

He turned quickly to retaliate, but was cut off when Kurama started talking again, "I think it's best if we reunite with Yusuke's group and work as one."

After a moment, they all agreed and made their way out of the field. Kurama seemed wary as they left, but continued on without glancing back. Behind them, the grass rustled as a blue-eyed stranger watched them leave.

-:-

Yusuke stopped and turned, "Mai, what the hell are you doing?"

The guardian frantically swiped at the air around her. She'd pause, only to swipe at a different direction. He stared at her in disbelief – how did she actually think she was hitting anything with her eyes closed like that? …Pure luck he guessed.

He sighed, "_Oi_, come here already," she obliged abnormally quick, "Look, I'll make sure none of them come near you alright? Just…calm down already…?

"So what do you think of our fair city?" Kido called to them from ahead.

Urameshi blinked as he casually swatted a Makai insect away from Mai, "Well I can't really say under the circumstances. Not that I could tell anyway with all these insects flying around, "the guardian flinched and whimpered at this and he rolled his eyes, "I haven't really had time to enjoy the scenery you know…"

AS he continued forward – he found himself stopped suddenly in a complete halt. His eyes widened as an odd presence abruptly filled the air. On instinct, his hand clenched…This feeling…he had felt it before…

Genkai's eyes narrowed, "You sensed that, didn't you, Yusuke?"

He nodded stiffly, "Yeah…" he answered, "Like I just walked into somebody's territory…"

All in unison, they turned. Against the sidewalk was a set of stairs leading below the surface. There was a sign above it indicating a bar beneath them. The stairs were dark – all save for a dim light somewhere at the bottom.

"You're not going to forget what I told you earlier," the old woman said as she shot the detective a glance, "Be careful, dimwit."

He smirked, "Heh, don't worry, I won't be that stupid again."

"Let's hope not," Mai grumbled.

Yusuke shot her an angry glare – that she easily ignored – and grudgingly followed the stairs below the surface. At the bottom opened a pair of automatic doors that lead directly into a small pub. As they entered, the bar keep smiled and offered a hello, followed by a cute young waitress sliding from behind the bar with a tray in hand. The only other people were just a few high-school students.

"I can't tell whose territory it is…" Yana whispered.

"Me neither…" Kido said as he scanned the room, "There are six people including the bartender…for all we know it could be any of them."

Mai frowned slightly, "Oh right, no one ask the dud for her opinion…" she mumbled.

She trailed off suddenly when a deep-throated chuckle greeted them. They turned together towards the man sitting near the back of the bar. He hardly looked older than them, but the pink shirt he wore sort of freaked them all out.

He was looking over – what, unfortunately, appeared to be – a colored porno magazine, "What do you guys want with me?" he asked as he placed the magazine on the counter and stood, "You must be the one's whose power I felt…"

"Hey, hey, hey!" the bartender cried frantically, "Sit down already – I won't tolerate any fighting in here—"

"Can it," the man snapped at him.

The bar keep was silenced – as well as the rest of the bar.

He turned back towards the group, "I don't quite know the reason why you're here, but I don't want to participate in a useless fight either…" his eyes flashed, "So why the hell are all of you here?"

"We're looking for someone," Yusuke replied, "Someone who's building a really big tunnel somewhere in the city."

The man quirked an eyebrow and seemed interested, "Really? There's a tunnel somewhere? You don't mean the tunnel between Makai and Ningenkai, do you?" he mused and seemed to take pleasure in watching their shocked expressions.

"How the hell did you know?" Yana demanded.

He smirked, "It was only a matter of you all telling me," he said carefully and watched their confused looks, "Only it was a matter of telling me through your minds…"

Mai blinked, "You're a mind-reader!" she exclaimed.

"And I'd happily read _your_ mind…" he told her and put on a deviant smirk.

Yusuke automatically stepped between him and the guardian – who grimaced ("Was he just hitting on me?"); his eyes flashed dangerously, but his voice didn't show any signs of anger, "He's probably lying. If we didn't know any better, I'd say he's hiding his real power and he's one of the guys we're looking for," he suddenly changed into a fighting stance, "And if that's the case, I'm ready to take him down—!"

He stopped abruptly when Kido grasped him by the shoulder, "Please, let me handle this, Yusuke…" he said as he took a step forward.

The psychic took a fighting stance. He would use his ability then follow it up from there…he frowned, but if the man really could read minds – if he was telling the truth – then he was completely screwed.

Across from him, the pink-shirted man chuckled, "You wanna fight then?"

Kido nodded shortly, "Only if you use your power…and then I'll use mine," he told him as his eyes narrowed.

In an instant, he charged towards the boy in the pink shirt. As he raced across the bar, the air shifted even more as he released his territory out through the entire room. He jumped into the air in front of him and angled his body so he would land on the man's shadow—

The man however, suddenly stepped out of his reach.

Kido's eyes widened as he staggered on impact. _He moved!_

"He…he moved," Yana said in disbelief.

The detective clenched his fist – so the bastard was telling the truth! "Kido – get the hell out of there!" he shouted suddenly towards him—

All of a sudden, the psychic cried out in pain when an uppercut to the ribcage caught him off guard. The man in the pink shirt grinned and suddenly attacked him with a merciless barrage of uppercuts to his face and chest. Kido's eyes continued to widen in pain; his pupils dilated.

With a final punch, the man suddenly hurtled the psychic across the room. He slid across the tile to the base of his team's feet.

"Kido!" Mai cried in alarm.

"Hah!" the man laughed, "It's a shame he couldn't use his ability to step on my shadow," he taunted.

Yana stared at him as he lifted Kido off the ground and placed his harm over his shoulder, "So…you really can read minds," he said in disbelief.

The other high school boys in the bar suddenly stood from their booth; shoving their money on the table as they rapidly pushed their way past the group and back up the stairs in terror. The bartender slowly reached out towards the telephone attached to the side wall.

The pink-shirted man laughed, "It's a little too early to be calling the police…" the bar keep stared at him before carefully hanging up the phone, and the man turned back to the group with a smirk, "I've always wanted to be a boxer, but it really wouldn't have been fair with this ability and all; I'd be able to read my opponent's next move. It would be kinda cheap being the boxing champ with this power."

Yusuke suddenly took a step forward. He shoved his hands into his pockets, "You know, Yana here has the ability to copy someone exactly, even their memory," his eyes narrowed slightly, "If it turns out you're not one of the ones we're looking for, you could be of some use to us…but if you are – you're in for a world of hurt, understand?"

"Heh," he snorted, "So you want to make a copy of me?"

The detective nodded, "Pretty much."

He glared at him suspiciously, "Well I refuse – I don't wanna get involved in whatever the hell you guys are in to: he suddenly raised his fists and hopped to and fro from one foot to the other, "I'll tell you what, though – if you're able to defeat me, I'll let your guy use his little gift on me."

Yusuke quirked an eyebrow, "I don't understand what the hell you're talking about, but if you're just going to be stubborn – whatever," he slipped off his jacket and handed it off to Mai, "Hold this, will you?"

She nodded and took it fro him while Yana frowned, "But how could he possibly win when the guy can read his mind?"

Genkai snorted, "I wouldn't worry too much. He may look like a dimwit – and he is – but he's also the grand champion of the Ankoku Bujutsukai. Of course it took a little motivation…" Mai blinked slightly, "But he does have a bit more under that thick skull of his – no matter how much we don't quite think so. This guy is like an ordinary human compared to some of the demons he's had to face."

Mai blinked again – but this time out of curiosity; somehow…she didn't think the old woman meant it as literally as it seemed…

The pink-shirted man smirked, "_Oi_, what's wrong with you?" he laughed, "Attack already!"

Urameshi didn't flinch, nor did his facial expression falter, "I'm gonna tell you what I'm going to do beforehand," he removed his hands from his pockets, "One, single straight-on-punch."

He frowned, "What?"

"I'm using one punch – one attack from the front," he told him, "So you better prepare yourself, alright?"

Mai just stared at him, "You think that's a good idea?"

But the man smirked, "I'll check to see if you're lying first…" he told him in return.

The detective nodded, but the pink-shirted man had already reached out to his mind. He frowned slightly…it was exactly as he said: _I'll hit him with one punch, but stop in front of his face. I'll hit him with one punch, but stop in front of his face. I'll…_The man smirked in disbelief. It was true! That idiot was going to attack him from the front – only a fool would attack head-on!

Yusuke changed his stance, "Let's go."

At probably the lowest speed possible, Urameshi moved forward across the bar. At the last minute, he threw out a punch – directly in front of the man's face – his eyes widened in the fear that he really would complete the punch – but Yusuke froze, just like he said he would. The man stared at his fist in horror as a trickle of sweat ran down the side of his face.

All of a sudden, the man began trembling violently – and a small river of blood seeped down from behind his hairline. With a sudden jolt, his body was flung up against the wall in a sudden burst of energy.

From behind them, the waitress and the bar keep gripped at each other in pure terror. But Yana and Kido stared in fascination at the detective's attack.

"That…was so cool…" Kido whispered, and Yana could only nod.

Genkai snorted, "That was only a fraction of his power; the man wasn't knocked out from the punch, but from the energy resulted afterwards."

The detective cocked his head back towards them, "Yo, Yana…copy our mystery man, will you?"

He nodded and moved across the bar where the man lay slumped against the wall. Yana knelt beside him on the floor and placed his hands on the man's head. There was a pause before a veil of orange _ki_ surrounded them. Yana's face began to morph as he began to take on the man's appearance – all save for his clothes.

Yusuke cocked an eyebrow, "Well?"

The psychic shook his head, "Nothing…just a normal human with special abilities…"

"If that's so…" Genkai started, "Then he should still be of some use to us."

-:-

Koenma stared rather off-handedly and shuffled through the papers in front of him absently. His eyes flickered off to the corner of his desk where a single file lay preserved from the last few days.

Kurama had already called him; they were going to meet up with Yusuke's group…the destination Ayame had given them had be unsuccessful. He sighed…it might be better for them to work as one anyway…

He caught sight of the folder again. The bold type held his gaze for a long time…

_The Memory Removal Department…_

His eyes widened all of a sudden.

"Koenma, sir…I reanalyzed the data you asked for…" Ayame said as she materialized through the wall, holding a stack of papers.

"Get me Botan," he said urgently all of a sudden. The ferry-girl blinked, but nodded, "I need to tell her something…" he glanced back at the folder on his desk and clenched his fist involuntarily. _They might all be in danger…_

-:-

The large fountain behind them trickled repeatedly in an endless stream. There was an oversized clock above them that struck two thirty just then. The small team stood around it and the pink-shirted man from before. Mai paced absently in a few little circles.

"So your name's Shigeru Murota…" Yusuke said as he sat down next to him; yet he somehow was able to seem uninterested as to whether he was pronouncing it right or not, "Murota, how big's your territory?"

"Thirty meters in radius," he answered automatically as he gingerly massaged his head from where Yusuke had attacked him earlier, "But all the thoughts just come at random; 'I want that idiot to die' 'I wish I had money' and thoughts like 'There's a test today, I should skip…'" he paused and laughed, "Heh, there's some guy to the right thinking some pretty nasty thoughts about your girlfriend there…"

He blinked suddenly when he found that the detective had vanished. When he found him, Yusuke was tackling some random kid in the crowd. Mai shouted at him and made some movement to stop him, but the boy on the ground made a comment, and her face flushed. She kicked him in the groin.

"The stronger they are, the stronger their thoughts are," Murota told them.

"Just listen to anyone passing by your territory," Genkai ordered him as the other pair returned and Yusuke straightened his jacket, "Report if anyone says anything odd…but in case they're watching, let us know through eye contact," she folded her arms over her chest, "The people we're looking for have special abilities…they'll be able to sense your territory."

Murota nodded – but he had hardly lowered his head in concentration before his eyes widened.

"What?" came the frantic, unified cry.

He pointed with a shaking hand at a school girl, "She wants to make love to her teacher…" he had a nosebleed, "Lucky bastard," he grumbled.

In unison, Genkai and Yusuke punched him over the head, "Stop minding the stupid stuff," the old woman told him irritably as the detective gripped him furiously by the collar of his shirt.

"Look," he muttered darkly, "I'll kill you if I have to – now get back on track, you idiot!" Murota mumbled an apology and Yusuke let him go, "We'll stay here all day if we have to…I have no problem with that…"

Mai's eyes flickered slightly. She blinked and suddenly stood from her place beside the fountain. A small grouping of flowers sat at the base of the streetlamp in a small plot of dirt. She lowered herself to it. There was a small frown that formed at her lips when she caught sight of a spider web attached to a pair of flowers.

A tiny butterfly struggled in its webbing as a spider crawled close to it…

And her eyes began to fade…

"_But why? Why won't you kill it? It'll hurt the butterfly if you don't!"_

_He stared slowly at the web before him. His hands reached out and ever so gently, began to untangle the butterfly from it, "Kill the spiders and save the butterflies…" he whispered _

"…_But in doing so, don't you become a spider yourself?"_

Mai started suddenly and backed away from the flower bush.

Her hand shook at her side and her eyes widened, "…Shi-_san_…"

Murota's scream suddenly pierced the air. The guardian whirled to find the other psychic desperately clutching his head as pure terror crept at his eyes. There were some among the crowd who stopped in confusion and tried to figure out what all the commotion was. Murota shook violently as sweat drenched his face.

"_Oi!_ Murota!" Yusuke cried, "What the hell's wrong? MUROTA!"

He was trembling in pure terror as his eyes widened at the ground in front of him. He looked as though he were in pain as his pupils dilated out of focus. He shook his head slowly, "That voice…" he murmured in hardly more than a whisper, "It's so calm…and – and yet…"

_I will kill all the ningens…once the tunnel is complete they will be hunted down and slaughtered purely for the sport of youkai. They will all die…All of them—_

Murota screamed again and buried his head in his lap – as if the voice in his head was proving to be too strong for him to handle.

"This is the first time I've ever heard a voice like this…" he whispered in horror, "…It's so calm – as if they knew they were speaking with me directly…" his eyes widened suddenly hand his knuckles whitened as he gripped at his hair, "But it's so evil…all it talks about is killing – he wants everyone in Ningenkai to die—"

"Tell us where they are," Yusuke told him immediately, "Don't point, just tell us!"

The psychic trembled, and for a second it seemed as though he was too terrified to tell them. But in a shaking voice he answered finally, "There…on the right. A tall man in a black shirt…"

All at once, the group whirled. A blur of black appeared amongst the swirling mass of people passing by.

A tall man in black…just as Murota had said. The man slowly came to a halt, as if sensing their gaze…and a smile inched along his lips. His dark hair was slicked back away from his face…all save for a single strand that fell over his eyes. They all saw him…

…And Mai's hand suddenly fell limp at her side—

The man's dark eyes flashed towards them—

And in the same instant something shot through the air like a bullet; piercing Murota directly on the head. A spurt of blood erupted from his skull and he fell backwards into the fountain. Somewhere in the crowd, a woman screamed and others turned towards the team.

But Yusuke somehow found himself locked in the man's gaze. He lifted his head up…and a smile curled around his lips – but there was nothing cheerful about it. There was however, something that kept him spellbound to the man's ice-cold eyes…

_This is just one of my people's skills, Urameshi Yusuke…_

The detective's eyes suddenly widened as a sudden thought occurred to him—

"_Yusuke!_"

He turned suddenly back towards they group as Kido and Yana lifted the other psychic out of the water. Genkai was the one who had called out his name though. At first he didn't understand what she was shouting for – but then his eyes widened further and he whirled…

The man had vanished from the crowd…

…But now Mai was gone too.

Panic raced through him at an alarming speed…and for the first time in awhile, a wave of terror swept over him.

'_Someone is searching for Mai…'_

-:-

Mai frantically pushed her way through the crowd swarming in around her. She staggered when she lost her footing, but refused to fall. The sight of dark hair was slowly beginning to vanish from her sight amidst the crowd and she grew frantic. Desperately, she tried to pick up her pace; to get through to an opening where she could freely catch up with him.

Her heart thumped painfully in her throat and ears…and her breaths came out in gasps.

_Where had she seen those eyes before?_

Someone crossed her path and for a moment, she lost sight of the man ahead of her. She cried out and shoved several people out of the way; she couldn't lose sight of him – _Where had she seen him before? _

…_Where had she seen those eyes?_

For a second, she thought she heard someone call her name, but she ignored it. As she glanced back up towards her destination, it suddenly had occurred to her that he never completely got out of her reach…as if he were purposely keeping his pace; as if…as if he wanted her to catch up. But as if in a dream, it was as though no matter how fast she ran something dragged her back…like she would never fully reach him after all…

Without warning, sudden tears of despair filled her eyes_. But why…?_ Why was she suddenly so—?

_Seven faces…_

She nearly stopped. Her eyes widened…

_Seven unknown faces emerged from the shadows. One was crying…and another held a gun aloft in their hand. A face smiled sadly and another smirked with a foreboding malice. There was a flower petal that drifted to the ground from one of their hands and another folded their arms over their chest darkly…_

_A final suddenly stepped forward from the darkness and stretched out his hand and smiled slowly._

"…_Arakawa-kun…"—_

"Don't go…" she gasped as she hurtled through a group a people. Her voice strained as her chest began to constrict and an unexpected pain shot through her heart. A tear slid off her face, "_Don't go—!"_

"_Mai!_"

All of a sudden, she jerked to a stop. A hand gripped her tightly at the wrist as she stood panting unusually hard. With a small cry of despair she realized that the man had vanished yet again within the crowd of people…and another tear sank down the side of her face. But slowly she turned around and found Yusuke holding onto her wrist for dear life. He breathed heavily also – but not nearly as heavy as her…

He panted, "Mai…"

She stared at him for the longest time, and said nothing. But suddenly, she felt her body giving way beneath her and she sank to her knees. Yusuke was able to catch her before she fell. He grunted slightly as he hoisted her arm over her shoulder. The detective could hear her struggled breathing in his ear…and could almost feel the painful beating of her heart against his back.

Without saying a word, he hauled her back towards the fountain and his eyes stared off distantly at the ground. He frowned slightly though when he realized that Mai had followed after the man on her own free will. What, did she think she could actually take him on without any spiritual powers? Even she wasn't that clueless…so why did she seem so urgent to reach him?

Instinctively, he clenched his fist at his side and gritted his teeth. But that man…there was no doubt in his mind that he was the one behind the portal to Makai…

-:-

Sensui watched as the ambulance drove off down the street. He frowned slightly as it disappeared behind a corner and placed his hands calmly inside of his pockets, just as a soft _thump_ came from behind him. The psychic closed his eyes and smiled, "So you weren't able to catch up, were you, Hagiri?"

The psychic behind him calmly ran a gloved hand through his hair, "Yeah, sorry…" he said nonchalantly, "…But Seaman just checked in," he told him, as he continued on, "He says the second group is planning to meet back up with Urameshi's team…And Urameshi and the others are heading straight for Kamiya at the hospital."

He would have continued on, but he suddenly noticed that Sensui hardly seemed to be paying attention to him – as if he had his mind fixed on something else. The elder psychic smiled and closed his eyes again.

"I never expected for Mr. Urameshi to be so calm…" he mused aloud and smirked, "He just seems to get a little preoccupied at times…But we'll fix that…"

Sniper watched him suspiciously as he stared over the edge of the building.

-:-

"_I will kill all the ningens…once the tunnel is complete they will be hunted down and slaughtered purely for the sport of youkai. They will all die…All of them,_" Murota repeated quietly as he massaged the bandage along his forehead. He frowned, "There was something else too…"

'_We'll build seven graves…one for each of us…'_

They all sat in the lobby of the hospital. Some nurses passed by them on their way to check on other patients within the hospital itself. Their team had become earlier quiet after their encounter earlier that day…

"He gave the name's of his group members…Dark Angel, Gate Keeper, Sniper, Gourmet, Game Master, Doctor, and Seaman…" he shook his head as he tried to recall, "But that's it…after that I don't remember anything except getting shot in the head with…" he frowned, "…what was it again?"

Genkai held out her hand and showed the small head of a pencil eraser, "This."

The group frowned in confusion at the tiny piece of rubber.

"But how could something like that do so much damage?" Kido wondered.

No one was able to give an answer to that, though. Not even Genkai had a possible answer for them that might have explained the phenomena – except that it probably was the result of one of their enemy's abilities.

"But those names…" Yana said, "…Do you think their some sort of code name they use for each other?"

The old woman nodded, "I wouldn't be surprised…" she thought for a moment, "Their nicknames probably represent their abilities within their territories as well – not just for secrecy amongst themselves," she turned back towards Yusuke and folded her arms, "But you should be happy, dimwit, we finally have all the information we need to go after them like you wanted…"

Urameshi nodded and punched his fist into his open palm, "Yeah…Can't think of anything else I would want more after seeing _him_ today…" his eyes narrowed and he glanced off towards the ground, "But there was something about him…just from looking at him I felt uneasy; it gave me a foul taste in my mouth…" he muttered darkly and his eyes narrowed further, "Almost how Toguro made me feel…except this time it was a hell of a lot worse—"

"I…"

They paused for a moment and turned towards where Mai sat with her eyes locked solemnly on the ground. For a moment it looked as though she was contemplating whether or not to continue…but then she sighed and turned her head away and became silent.

Genkai's eyes locked on her for a long time, before she lowered her head and snorted, "Nonetheless…we should all feel at least a little better knowing that he wasn't the one who shot Murota…"

Yana blinked and scratched his head, "What are you talking about, Master Genkai?"

But Yusuke nodded with her, "She's right…that guy didn't do anything but look."

The old woman smirked slightly, "Nice of you to figure that one out; that even took less time than noticing Mai was gone…" the detective's face contorted but she ignored him and turned to the other three psychics, "The rubber was shot from the front and followed a one-hundred and eighty degree angle. Our guy was to the right about twenty degrees; it would be impossible for him to have shot it. When the eraser bounced off Murota's head, it still had spirit energy in it…but whoever shot it was out of my sight range."

"That's over five-hundred meters!" Kido said in alarm.

Urameshi frowned a little, "That must be one his guy's skills…kind of stupid though, if all he can shoot is little rubber erasers…" he shoved his hands into his pockets, "Then again, if he had shot it any harder, Murota here could've died—"

The psychic cried out in terror and suddenly clutched at Mai's arm, "Dear God – don't let me die! You all have to protect me, _please_—!"

"Hey, hey, _hey!_" Yusuke shouted and kicked him square in the side of the face. He fell of the chair and began twitching as Mai shifted warily to the next seat over, "No touching her! Geeze…I hate to say it, but Kuwabara's starting to look more manly right about now compared to this guy…"

—Above them, a reflection appeared in one of the windows overlooking the lobby. A smirk filled their face as the doctor calmly placed his hand within his pocket and shadowed his eyes behind his glasses…

—Mai's hands clutched at the hem of her dress…

_But where had she seen those eyes before…?_

-:-

a/n: Alrighty…ah well…

Yeah I should probably go study n.n;;

But I really need to work on the Yusuke/Mai relationship a lot more; I seem to be neglecting that…whoopsie n.n;;

SAYOUNARA _MINNA-SAN_!


	7. Sleep Doctor Sleep

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH or any lyrics that I may happen to use – but all my original characters and twists to the storyline are mine.

a/n: I LIIIIIIIIIIIIVE! Geez, but my eyes hurt w Ah well…

But sorry for the long wait everyone n.n;; school's been a pain in the butt (plus this chapter is uber long…and I just got finished with it five minutes ago) Hehe, n.n;; plus I've kinda been busy drawing a bunch o' stuff for some of my art websites (and for fun too)

Haha, but I hope you all are still with me!

Enjoy!

_Thoughts_

_Forever Fornever III_

:Sleep Doctor Sleep:

"_I will kill all the ningens…once the tunnel is complete, they will be hunted down and slaughtered purely for the sport of youkai. They will die…all of them,_" Murota repeated quietly. He frowned as he massaged the bandage on his head, "Alongside six others he plans to kill everyone…"

Yusuke stared at him, "What six?" he asked cautiously.

The psychic thought for a long time, "There were seven names: Dark Angel, Gate Keeper, Gourmet, Game Master, Sniper, Doctor, and Seaman."

Kido rubbed the back of his neck, "But those names probably correspond to an ability they have, don't you think? Like that Sniper person…they seem like a good candidate for whoever shot Murota earlier…"

The psychic was whimpering now as he suddenly clutched at Mai's arm, "Dear God – don't let me die! You all have to protect me – _please!_"

Genkai folded her arms seriously as Yusuke kicked him in the face, "We should all just be on our guard from now on, no matter what—"

She froze suddenly – but the others felt it too. The air within the hospital thickened and shifted as a foreboding presence sunk in all around them. All at once, the group stood (all save for Mai – who remained oblivious). Yusuke clenched his fist and his eyes darted across the lobby.

"But how could they have established a territory _here_?" Yana wondered in disbelief.

Murota was trembling in fear, "I…I can hear him…" he whispered and his eyes widened, "One of the seven – the Doctor. He can see us…and he says we're his next targets…"

In unison, the team suddenly turned their backs and formed into a circular formation. Yusuke grabbed Mai by the hand and put her behind him. He felt her small fingers grasp onto the folds of his jacket as she tried to placed herself as close as she could to the detective.

Their eyes darted across the lobby; whoever it was had to be somewhere nearby—

Suddenly, both Yana and Murota dropped to their knees. Yana screamed in pain and the other psychic gasped and clutched his hand. They stared in horror as twin insects injected them with the syringes attached to their spines.

Yana cried out in horror, "_Wh-What is this thing?_"

The rest of the team suddenly whirled just as the tall-haired psychic crushed the bug in his palm. As he removed his hand, the insect vanished abruptly in a cloud of smoke and left behind a small blue mark. But in an instant, the mark was rapidly spreading across their hands and down their arm.

"Yana! Murota! What's wrong?" Yusuke shouted, but they didn't answer him. Their bodies trembled violently and Kido leaned over and felt Murota's head. They psychic withdrew suddenly.

"They're burning up," he said in alarm.

Mai turned to the old woman next to her, "Master Genkai, what's wrong? What's happened to them?"

She frowned, "There are Makai insects – similar to the ones outside—"

"Master Genkai—" Murota gasped, "He's infected us…and he said – he said that in his territory other innocent people might get sick!"

"Which mean's there's probably more than two of those things flying around."

Yusuke's eyes suddenly flickered down an open hallway and grasped for Mai's hand; dragging her behind him. She blinked as Kido and Genkai turned as well. All at once, a giant swarm of the insects filled the corridor and shot towards them. As the insects began to surround them, the small group attacked and threw out punches in the air. With each punch, the bugs vanished in a puff of smoke.

A nurse walked up to them warily, "Um…is there anything I can help you with?" she asked.

Kido and the detective whirled and noticed with a start the Makai insects crawling at her head and shoulders, "What are you doing? Get those bugs off!"

The nurse blinked and glanced up at her shoulders, but couldn't see them.

Urameshi's eyes widened, "_Shimatta!_ They're just like the others – normal people without heightened reiki awareness can't see them – they'll all be infected if they can't see to defend themselves!"

Genkai swiped at another swarm of bugs, "We need to find whoever's territory this is. Then we can help these two—" she gestured behind her at the pair of psychic's wheezing along the floor.

The other two nodded briskly. Yusuke suddenly turned and grabbed Mai by the wrist. She didn't have any time to protest before the few of them hurtled down the hallway. As they passed the nurse, the detective threw out a punch at the nurse's shoulder and destroyed a bug.

"What after those two!" Kido called to her over his shoulder.

"Ah!" the nurse cried, "Please don't run in the halls!"

Yusuke carried Mai along with him as they all rounded the corner. Kido seemed to be having some trouble keeping up.

"But there are hundreds of doctors and nurses in here!" Kido shouted to them, "How are we supposed to tell whose territory it really is?"

Urameshi smirked, "Heh, just knock out the first doctor you see."

The old woman beside him snorted, "That does see to be the easiest way. But the hospital's too big for all of us to stick together – we need to split up," They all turned a corner, " So when you find him make a noise we'll all hear – either scream or blow something up!"

They nodded again in unison, "I'll take the first floor," Kido called as he split off.

"Then Mai and I will take the second, "Yusuke informed the old woman.

She nodded, "And don't forget the nurses," she called loud enough so even Kido could hear, "They should know all the doctors – ask if they've seen anyone suspicious!"

The two of them split off suddenly down either hallway. Yusuke tightened his hold on Mai's hand as he sped up. The guardian gripped irritably at his hand as he continued to ignore her cries of protest.

"Hey! I _can_ walk on my own, you know!" she shouted.

But he just smiled, "Just trying to speed things along!"

-:-

Kido charged down the hallway. But no matter where he went, the territory's strength remained the same – as if whoever was controlling it was always out of reach. He gritted his teeth, and whatever Murota and Yana had been injected with…it could easily become unstable at any time and they could all be in danger—

He suddenly skidded to a halt when a nurse appeared in a nearby room. Out of instinct, he turned and grasped her arm. She blinked up at him.

"Is there something wrong, sir?" she asked curiously.

The psychic shook his head, "I need your help –m there are criminals in the hospital posing as doctors. You have to come with me and point out any of the staff you don't recognize—"

A doctor suddenly appeared in the doorway, "What's all this commotion about?"

The nurse turned to him and smiled politely as the doctor approached them, "Ah…Kamiya-_sensei_, this boy says that there are some people posing as doctors. Have you seen anyone odd today?" she said as she relayed Kido's information.

But the doctor's eyes flickered suspiciously towards Kido, "Who are you?"

"There's not time—!" the psychic cried frantically, "We need to call the police and find the imposter – two of my friends have already been infected by them a few minutes ago. If we don't do something everyone in the hospital could get infected!"

Kamiya held his gaze for a long time before turning back towards the hallway and nodding, "Alright…seeing that I know almost everyone, I'll go the rounds checking for anything out of the ordinary…" he stopped and turned back towards the nurse, "But nonetheless…you should still be prepared and notify the police…"

She nodded obediently, and began making her way towards the telephone against the wall. The nurse stopped suddenly and turned towards the doctor, "Oh, but Kamiya-_sensei_…" she called, "Wasn't it your day off today?"

Kido froze.

Without warning, Kamiya's face darkened – and a sudden scream filled the air. The nurse's pupils dilated and faded as her blood suddenly splattered along the hospital floor. Her body slumped to the floor into the pool of crimson liquid.

The psychic's eyes widened and turned towards the doctor – only to find that he had vanished.

But Kido tensed abruptly when he felt a presence behind him.

Before he could turn around, Kamiya suddenly drilled over a dozen slices into the psychic's back. Kido's eyes widened in sheer agony – and his pupils suddenly vanished. The doctor withdrew his hand and Kido collapsed onto the ground not too far from the nurse.

But now…there was something malicious glinting in the doctor's eyes.

"You can't move, can you?" he asked casually, "You can hear me though…but you certainly can't move; not your hands, your feet, or even your mouth…" Kamiya smirked, "With my ability I can easily cut open your skin and use my own hand as a sculpting knife.

Even as he was talking, the tips of his fingers began to glow in _ki_ as the doctor leaned over Kido's body. He had hardly even placed his hand an inch away from his skin, when the flesh along the psychic's wrist began to seep blood.

Kamiya smiled in satisfaction as he placed his head beside Kido's ear.

"I will kill anyone who gets in the way of me or my comrades…"

Suddenly, a second scream filled the air as a second nurse appeared in the doorway; a look of horror plastered over her face. The doctor swore under his breath – her scream would no doubt alert others…which could make things even worse…

Faking sudden urgency, Kamiya turned to her, "Hurry and call the police!" he ordered, "The ones who did this could get away – there are criminals in the hospital posing as doctors."

-:-

Genkai glanced around the top floor cautiously. Even all the way at the top of the building, the territory still pricked at her senses. She frowned as the fluorescent lighting flickered up and down the hallway around her.

But there was no one there…

-:-

Mai watched as yet another nurse hurtled down the opposing direction. She turned over her should where still more began to file out into the halls.

"Yusuke, I think something's wrong…" she told him quietly.

The detective brushed the comment off, "They're probably just going to help any other people who have been infected. Don't worry about it; we still have to find the Doctor. Besides," he inclined his head towards her, "Why are you telling _me_ this? Didn't you lose your _reiki_ awareness?"

She frowned, "But—"

"_Oi_, ignore it already!" he told her suddenly irritable.

The guardian stared at the back of his head as he continued to run down the hallway. She frowned angrily, _aho…_

Without warning, she let go of his hand. And when the detective turned around to call to her, she was already up and running after the other nurses. Yusuke saw her vanish down an open doorway leading to a stairwell and he called out her name to no avail. He pivoted and changed directions; flying down the staircase after her. When he had reached the bottom, he saw her vanish within a group of nurses crowding a doorway.

"Mai!"

He shoved his way through; ignoring any cries of protest as he stumbled into the room beyond. The detective shook his head slightly and glanced up – only to find Mai standing frozen just within the doorway. And when he followed her gaze…he felt his blood suddenly run cold.

"Kido…?" the guardian whispered, horrified.

Yusuke pushed past her, "What the hell happened?" he demanded of the doctors standing around his body. It was then that he noticed a second body next to the wall – and Mai trembling as her eyes seemed to grow wider than they already were.

A doctor glanced up from the psychic's body, "Are you friends of this man?" he asked them. Yusuke nodded stiffly and the doctor then sighed, "They're saying that there's someone going around attacking the staff and other innocent people…"

There was a second doctor who sat studying the wounds scattered along Kido's back, "The good news is…he'll be alright, at this point there isn't anything to worry about."

Mai's hand trembled as she slowly covered her mouth. The heavy stench of blood filled the air – and she felt as though she were going to be sick. A group of doctors stood not too far away near the back of the room. She noticed there was one keeping his eyes locked on the two of them. His glasses flashed and he suddenly turned back towards his colleagues.

"Mai…" she heard Yusuke's voice in her ear, "The Doctor might still be here…"

There was a doctor who pulled a few nurses off to the side, "Search the whole floor – and warn anyone you see; our imposter could possibly be armed with weapons so be careful…" the all nodded briskly and hurried out the door.

Mai was still shaking, "Kido?" she whispered again as she took a step forward. Yusuke stood beside her as she knelt on the ground beside him. The detective frowned darkly as he scanned the group of doctors scattered around the room.

The guardian reached out her hand towards the psychic slowly while another doctor began to explain to his colleagues that Kido had been just temporarily paralyzed. Mai felt her fingers trembling as she caught sight of his eyes still staring off blankly at an empty void.

Her hand was beginning to make contact with his wounds.

Yusuke suddenly placed his hand on her shoulder. His face was dark and serious as he sighed, "C'mon, Mai…we have to leave him and go find the owner of the territory…" he added a little too quietly for the hospital staff to hear.

_No!_

Mai made a move to get up…But froze suddenly when she realized she couldn't move.

She noticed the detective's eyes widen, "Mai…" he whispered as his eyes flickered towards the guardian, "You can't move either, can you?" he said as Kido's presence lingered in the air.

The guardian – if it was possible – would have nodded in response. Her eyes flickered back towards the psychic's body…was he…was he trying to tell them something?

Urameshi suddenly looked back over at the group of doctors and gritted his teeth. Kido was trying to tell them that the Doctor was in this room somewhere. Some of the other doctors began to circle around the psychic and examine his wounds. Mai stopped herself when she noticed the marks along Kido's back…

The holes remained in his shirt…but the scars beneath them were gone. She blinked, _that's odd—_

A nurse suddenly screamed. Mai and Yusuke turned – and the guardian felt her stomach knot and her eyes widen instinctively.

There was a stream of blood easing out from within the pool of blood sitting under Kido's body. The shadow of a hand dragged it into the open as the crimson liquid scrawled across the linoleum floor; carving out the words slowly with the bright red stream.

"_What the hell?_"

Kido's shadow carried the trail of blood with each line of kanji…his strength began to wade near the end when his hand became sluggish in its writing.

The detective stared when the writing suddenly stopped.

"Kamiya-_sensei_…?" he whispered.

All of a sudden, a tension filled the air as all the doctors seemed to turn in unison. But still, Kido seemed to hold tight to their shadows for dear life…even as a sudden darkness seemed to engulf the room and them with it.

"Kamiya-_sensei_?" they all whispered to one another – as they all turned towards the same doctor sitting in the back of the room.

Yusuke's eyes flickered, "_It's you!_"

A smirk abruptly crossed the Doctor's eyes. Two slashes and several screams of terror filled the room. Blood splattered across the walls surrounding them, and stained against Mai's hands and cheek as she stared in sheer horror. The bodies of all the doctors suddenly collapsed onto the ground in their pools of freshly spilled blood. The crimson liquid dripped from Kamiya's hands as he glared at the remaining two with a deviant glare.

He grinned maliciously, "It appears my plans have been forced to change…" he said quietly as he took a step forward, "…Now I'll have to kill everyone in the hospital; I actually would prefer to keep the innocent profile of 'Kamiya-_sensei_' for just a little while longer. It makes for a good alias…"

Urameshi clenched his fists, "_Oi,_ Kido…you can release your territory now…"

The guardian beside him was trembling now as Kamiya continued forward…another drop of blood trickled down his hand onto the floor, "Yusuke…"

"I'm working on it, Mai…" he muttered almost nervously.

A small flicker of light appeared at the end of the Doctor's fingertips. The guardian was desperate to release herself from Kido's hold, "_Yusuke…_" she muttered as Kamiya continued to move closer to them.

"Kido – you can put down your territory any time now!" Yusuke shouted furiously.

Mai clenched her eyes shut, "_Yusuke!_"

The Doctor suddenly raised his hand above him and Mai clenched her eyes in terror as his hand slashed down towards them.

Without warning, Mai felt herself being flung backwards. A pair of arms gripped at her waist as she and Yusuke rolled from Kamiya's attack. She heard the detective breathing heavily beside her, before he quickly raised himself off the ground to face the psychic.

"Dammit…that was _really_ cutting it close, Kido!" he shouted at the psychic's body. But now that their shadows had been released, it was evident that Kido had now fallen into an unconscious state.

Kamiya glared at them from across the room. His fingers still flickered with a bright green _reiki_, but now he held his hands down at his side. Beside the detective, Mai slowly began to pick herself off the ground and move behind him.

"Keh..." the Doctor smirked, "You do realize it will be quite impossible for you to get in my way, Mr. Urameshi…" he told the detective coolly.

Yusuke clenched his fist, "How the hell do _you_ know who I am?" he muttered dangerously.

But Kamiya to grin as the lighting with the room began to flicker, "The Dark Angel told me…" he said calmly. His eyes flashed towards the guardian beside him, "…And Miss Arakawa too. I just learned of _your_ name recently, but nonetheless…the Dark Angel seemed particularly interested in you…"

The detective abruptly stepped in front of her.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" he demanded. And had Mai been in front of him, she would have seen an unusual amount of anger burning at his eyes. But the guardian was more intent on the Doctor's words. Her mind suddenly flashed back towards earlier at the fountain – and thought just for the briefest moment…about whether or not that man from earlier was the one Kamiya continued to call 'the Dark Angel'…

The Doctor placed his hand in his pocket slowly, "I'm afraid I can't tell you that," he said deviously as his eyes flashed from behind his glasses, "Especially since I won't allow you to get in the way of our plans…"

-:-

"So his powers are a result of the tunnel too," Koenma said quietly. Beside him, Jorge watched the monitor before them; eagerly cheering for the _tantei_ back in Ningenkai. The demigod rolled his eyes – but his expression remained serious. Like Mai, he was more preoccupied with the information the Doctor continued to give them.

Especially since it was beginning to make him more and more uneasy about his own assumptions.

Behind them, Ayame materialized through the wall, holding her usual stack of papers in her hands. She looked worried, "Koenma sir…it seems, we've made a mistake in our calculations…"

He turned towards her, "What kind of mistake?"

She looked briefly over her papers, "The tunnel…it's supposed to be one-hundred meters underground – and yet we still need to make exact calculations as to where the tunnel to Makai really is," she said as she glanced back up at him.

The demigod frowned seriously. But then he nodded and grudgingly turned back towards the screen, "Alright, Ayame…keep working – but be careful," he added just as the Doctor began another advance on the two detectives. She nodded obediently and left. Jorge watched her go and turned back to Koenma as he stared at the monitor darkly.

"This is worse than I thought…" the he whispered.

The ogre blinked, "Uh, how much worse, Koenma-_sama_?"

But Koenma closed his eyes slowly and leaned back in his large armchair. After a moment, he let out a dry laugh, "You're just like Botan…" he mused aloud; "You wouldn't understand."

-:-

The ferry-girl cried out suddenly and smacked a Makai insect with a fly swatter, "Geez – I can't stand this anymore!" she said irritably as she killed another one that flew too close to her.

Beside her, Kazuma blinked, "Wait, what'dya see?" he asked as he looked around.

"Insects from Makai," Kurama answered him as he swiped a few from the side of his face, "But it doesn't appear that anyone without heightened _reiki_ can see them – not that that's a problem," he added, "There'd be complete panic if they could."

Kaitou pushed his glasses back on the bridge of his nose, "Well things definitely weren't this bad when we left to see Genkai-_shihan_…" he noted rather drearily.

They continued down the street and Kuwabara glanced over his shoulder for the countless time that hour, "Hey Kurama…you sure that person from earlier isn't following us?" he wondered cautiously as he looked back just to make sure.

The akage nodded without even looking back at him, "They stopped following us awhile ago when we entered the main part of the city. But that only heightens the chances that Yusuke's group has encountered them instead – and possibly any of the others that we're looking for…"

Botan grinned, "But at least with Master Genkai there, they shouldn't have any problems—!"

And just at that moment, a police car whizzed by; sirens blazing.

She blinked, "I wonder what that was all about…"

-:-

With a small thump, a third part member joined Sensui and Hagiri. Without looking at him, the dark-haired man smirked wryly as he closed his eyes, "Mr. Urameshi's group of _reikai tantei_ is beginning to get annoying," he said in amusement.

The newest of the group lowered his yellow hoody from around his head, "So what's the plan?"

Sensui smiled cynically, "Some of them have apparently met up with the Doctor in his territory," his eyes opened calmly as he peered over the chain-linked fence surrounding the roof, "We'll see how they fare against him first before making our next move…"

He tucked his hand into his pocket and began to laugh quietly to himself.

-:-

Mai would definitely be grateful that she couldn't see the Makai insects, Yusuke decided – seeing as though dozens of Kamiya's bugs were swarming all around him by now. He clenched his fist; so the Doctor was just using them as a shield…

The damn coward…

"Yusuke," the guardian said as she blinked, "What's that buzzing sound?"

He stared at her – almost in alarm. The insects surrounding Kamiya _were_ buzzing. But how would she be able to hear them without her heightened _reiki_ awareness to tell her…?

The detective was cut off suddenly when the Doctor began to laugh.

"These insects…they're a part of my skill," he informed them; his eyes flashing, "With just a flick of my hand and whim I can make anyone within my territory sick," the detective glared at him and Kamiya laughed again, "But the sickness I give off doesn't effect the body…but the soul. And eventually, all those who have been injected with the serum will die within thirty minutes."

Mai stared at him, "You can't do that!" .

But Yusuke cracked his knuckles and smirked, "Heh…I still have some time left!" he cried and suddenly lunged forward. Without even bothering to aim, the detective hurtled punches out at the Doctor; destroying the insects around him and landing a few alongside his face. After several barrages, a final punch suddenly sent Kamiya flying the door and crashing out into the hallway.

He smirked and punched his fist again into his open palm. But Mai smacked his arm, "You idiot! If you knock him out now, you could kill him – and then we won't know anything!"

Urameshi grinned, "_Oi_, calm down…that was just a little warm-up punch. Just so he understands out serious we are," his eyes flashed towards Kamiya, "I'll put you to sleep nice and painlessly…so then everyone wins…"

He trailed off suddenly as the Doctor began to chuckle. Kamiya stood with ease and smirked mockingly in their direction – before he abruptly took off down the hallway without even so much as a warning.

Mai cried out and Yusuke raced after him, "Hey!"

The two detective skidded down the hallway just as the Doctor turned his head back towards them, "If you wan tot defeat me, you should better follow!" he laughed again as the lights suddenly flickered off around them.

"Yusuke!"

He grappled for her hand in the darkness and caught it.

And Mai's eyes widened—

'_Shi-san! SHI-SAN!' her tiny hand flailed in front of her; the crowd steadily beginning to close in around her…and the head of dark hair fading from view. And as if in slow motion, the man began to drift out of sight; fading slowly into the see of nameless faces. Tears streamed rapidly down the side of her face._

'_SHI-SAN—!'_

"—Mai!"

The guardian blinked suddenly as Yusuke's voice called out from the darkness. She felt his hand clenched around her own – and tighten as he ran faster down the corridor. Kamiya's footsteps were no longer audible. Around them, the lights flickered weakly and Mai caught the detective's shadow between flashes.

When the lights finally came back on, the pair suddenly found themselves at a sudden standstill. A fork in the hallway obscured their path – and Urameshi's grip only tightened around the guardian's wrist.

"_Kuso_!" Yusuke swore under his breath, "Where the hell did that bastard go?"

Mai glanced nervously over her shoulder at the darkened hallway behind them, "He might have slipped behind us too…when the lights were out…" she whispered warily.

A tense silence filled the air. The guardian felt sweat perspiring on the detective's palm as he contemplated each path uneasily. Either way looked just as reasonable as the other; making the choice harder than it already was.

Yusuke's eyes flickered.

Suddenly he whirled to face the guardian, "_Move—!_" he cried out furiously. Mai blinked when he abruptly shoved her out of the way – just as Kamiya suddenly dropped down from the ceiling; swinging his arm across the hallway and slicing up almost half of it.

The Doctor turned towards the detective and smirked; his eyes glinting maliciously as the tips of his fingers radiated with a pale green energy. He stood between the two _tantei_ as Mai stood a few feet away – shaking slightly from shock. Kamiya smirked again as he glanced between the two of them.

His eyes suddenly flashed towards Urameshi and he grinned, "Come on!"

Kamiya's hand lashed out at him. Yusuke ducked swiftly below the attack and fell onto the floor – only to push himself back up again. He caught the Doctor's arm and pushed it out of the way as he slammed his fist into his face. Mai ducked as the psychic's body flew over her – and she quickly moved out of the way when Kamiya was able to stop himself.

A deviant smirk inched at his lips. And without warning, he turned towards the guardian – his hand slashing through the air. Yusuke shouted furiously as Kamiya's hand swiped down on top of her.

A small splatter of blood stained the floor, and Urameshi's pupils dilated.

Mai clenched her eyes shut. A trickle of blood ran down the side of her cheek; it had been just enough, but she was able to dodge the fatal part of the blow. The crimson liquid stained her fingers as she shielded the wound and backed away. The Doctor smirked and whirled back towards the detective.

But Yusuke was already charging, "_TEMÉ!_" he shouted fiercely and his hand suddenly latched back on to Kamiya's wrist, his eyes flashing murderously, "Don't you _dare_ touch her!" he roared. His fist suddenly came around and hooked him in the gut – and the Doctor's eyes widened in pain as a spurt of blood escaped his lips, "…You're fight's with me!" he muttered.

His leg swung around and caught him in the side the face; slamming him against the wall. He slumped and Yusuke immediately moved back to stand in front of Mai. His eyes narrowed darkly towards Kamiya's body.

"You stay out of range…" he muttered to the guardian.

So nodded slowly as she moved back a few feet – but as she did so, Kamiya began to laugh once more. Mai froze as the Doctor raised himself off the ground. Yusuke clenched his fist as the psychic pushed himself against the wall to raise himself from the ground. Kamiya smirked.

"You don't have to worry about her safety, Mr. Urameshi," he informed him coolly as the detective stared in disbelief at the fact that he was still conscious. But Kamiya grinned still as his glasses fell from his face and shattered on the ground, "I've received special orders from the Dark Angel not to harm Ms. Arakawa…" his eyes flashed when he saw Urameshi's gaze burning furiously, "I was just making sure you knew…how serious I am."

Yusuke caught the mockery I his voice and clenched his fist, "Yeah well you can tell that Dark Angel bastard – that he better knock it off 'cause I'm coming for him next! Just after a shove your face into the earth…" he growled and frowned darkly as he watched the Doctor smirk, "…you don't move or react like a normal human though…"

At this, Kamiya chuckled, "That's true – you're very clever Mr. Urameshi, if not hot-headed at the same time," his eyes glinted, "But around the time that I discovered my abilities…I also began experimenting on myself. I learned how to control even the tiniest impulses from my brain – so I don't feel any pain at all…"

The detective clenched his teeth, "So it's true then…you're becoming a _youkai_," he smirked suddenly and let out a snort of amusement, "That's good…'cause if you were still human I'd have to show some mercy…and since you're not – well…"

Kamiya's eyes flashed suddenly as _reiki_ began to flow to the ends of his fingertips. Yusuke swiftly changed his stance so that he stood in the Doctor's way. The psychic smirked and charged towards him; his arm raised over his head.

Urameshi raised his hand in return and his gaze darkened.

"_REI GAN!_"

-:-

Kurama's head shot up suddenly as a blast of light charged through the sky above them; slowly fading out of sight beyond the clouds. The akage stopped suddenly and followed the blast's trail back down to the earth.

"_Oi_, Kurama what's wrong?" Kuwabara wondered when he realized his companion had stopped behind him.

"It came from the hospital."

The redhead blinked and looked around, "What did?"

Kurama's eyes narrowed seriously as he started moving again – but faster this time, "Yusuke's spirit gun – but why did he have to use it?"

-:-

When the Doctor didn't scream in pain, Mai did. By only a fraction was he able to dodge Yusuke's attack…but instead of taking the psychic up in the blast, it settled for his right arm. The spirit gun shattered through the hospital wall and Kamiya's arm slumped to the ground, a growing pool of blood flowing out around it. Mai clapped her hands over her mouth to keep from getting sick.

But the Doctor quickly recovered…and smirked again, "So…" he said quietly, "That was the infamous _rei gan…_"

"Keh…" Yusuke snorted emotionlessly, "And next time I won't miss."

Kamiya smiled in satisfaction, "Well, the Dark Angel did tell me not to be careless…and now I can see why,' he calmly lifted the bleeding limb off the ground, "But as you can remember…I _am _a doctor…"

_Reiki_ flashed at his fingertips as he drew his hand across the seam between his arm and shoulder. And effortlessly, it seemed to reattach itself back onto his body. Both Mai and Yusuke took a step back in disgust as the Doctor rolled his shoulder as if trying to regain the feeling in his arm.

Urameshi clenched his teeth, "What the hell?"

"That's…not normal…" Mai whispered.

The Doctor stretched his arm a final time before turning back to the two _tantei_ and casually cracked his neck, "…It seems as that everyone has their own personality that influences their interests and character," a smirk flickered across his eyes, "And as you and your clever little friends figured out…my codename happens to be 'the Doctor' – and ironically enough, I take great joy in killing people. Though, truthfully, I am a real doctor surprisingly…"

Mai blinked as she noticed the name Murota had given them earlier, "So you _are_ one of the seven!"

Kamiya's eyes flickered abruptly to her and darkened. Inwardly, he swore…Sensui hadn't told him that these bastards knew so much…He snorted suddenly in amusement – it wouldn't matter anyway once he got through with them.

The guardian was frowning, "So we can take you silence as a yes, then?"

He clenched his teeth as Yusuke stepped forward, "So – unless you want to lose that face of yours in a little bit…I'd start talking. Where are the rest of your little friends – and what do they look like so we can beat their skulls in next!"

The Doctor stared at him with a smirk – and his wrist cocked suddenly at his side, "Heh, sure I'll tell you…" he muttered. Light flashed at his fingertips and, without warning, he charged, "That is, once I carve out your heart!"

He swiped at Yusuke – and the detective easily dodged that and all the other attempts Kamiya began to make. The _reiki_ at the end of his fingers stretched across the hallway – carving into the walls. The Doctor suddenly drove his attack in a full-frontal assault, which Urameshi ducked from.

Yusuke's fist came up and suddenly slammed into the side of Kamiya's face. With a sickening crack, the psychic's neck snapped to the side, and his body flew back down the hallway. But even before he hit the ground, the Doctor jumped up and slowed himself to a halt. He laughed darkly before he cracked his neck back into place.

"My, my…" he chuckled, "That punch would have killed any normal ningen…but like I told you before…I've lost all ability to feel pain. So I guess you're out of luck."

Urameshi snorted, "Keh, then I guess it'll be nice and painless then when I kill you. That is, unless you release this damn territory of yours right now and free everyone from this disease."

But Kamiya only grinned maliciously, "I don't plan on dying anytime soon, Mr. Urameshi – so I guess everyone will just have to die…" The Doctor continued to grin as he spoke to the detective, "But really Yusuke…" his eyes flashed suddenly, "Would you really resolve to killing another human? I may have gained _youkai_-like abilities, but at heart…I'm still human, not matter what you may think."

Mai saw Urameshi tense suddenly – and a look she didn't recognize flashed across his eyes, "She clenched her fists angrily, "Don't you dare listen to him, Yusuke!" she told him almost irritably, "You have to think about Yana and Murota – and all the others infected. They'll all die if we just stand here and do nothing! _Yusuke!_"

Her eyes flickered when she noticed his fingers digging furiously into his palm, "Keh…but he's right…I've never actually killed another _ningen _before…"

The guardian's mind immediately reverted to Toguro – before realizing that he too was demon. Even if he had been human once, he hadn't been when Yusuke had delivered the final blow during the Tournament. And catching the look in his eyes again made even her uncertain of what the detective would chose to do in the end.

She glanced back towards Kamiya. But even if he was human – he was trying to kill innocent people…But to Yusuke, the knowledge of him being a human haunted him – like he wouldn't ever be able to kill a fellow _ningen_.

The Doctor grinned, "Won't you kill me now, Mr. Urameshi? Your time is slowly ticking away…and everyone is slowly beginning to die…" he laughed suddenly as he took a step towards them, "It's ironic really…by using my own disease…I'm getting rid of another."

Mai looked passed Yusuke at him, "What are you talking about?"

He smiled – almost as if he was waiting for her to ask that, "Humans, Miss Arakawa…they're a disease unto this world. They destroy the land they live on then simply move on to destroy another. It's only fair that we return the world to the way it was – and get rid of this plague."

"So that…" her eyes widened slightly, "…That's why you're trying to open the Makai portal. You're going to try and wipe out the human race!"

She made a move to step forward, but before she had gotten too close, Yusuke stepped in front of her. Mai blinked and noticed the detective still seemed preoccupied, as if he was still inwardly fighting himself over the idea of killing a fellow human. Nonetheless, he came to stand in her way; his eyes locked on the Doctor in front of them. Yusuke continued forward towards Kamiya, steadily picking up speed.

He stopped suddenly – and his eyes flashed towards the psychic. Yusuke's fist cocked and a burst of _reiki_ flared around his hand. Kamiya's eyes widened – but Yusuke had vanished.

"_What!_"

Without warning, Urameshi's fist appeared in front of the Doctor – only to redirect itself to the wall beside Kamiya's head. A spider-web effect raced out from around the detective's fist as the Doctor spiraled backwards. Kamiya caught himself with his hand and jumped to his feet before he fell. Yusuke yanked out his fist from the wall and turned to the Doctor.

He was smirking.

"Keh, I don't want to do this more than the next person…but if I have to," his eyes flashed, "I will."

Kamiya grinned though, "You sure? Because the look on your face seems to say otherwise."

The detective clenched his fist and shot him a furious glare, "Keh," he cocked his wrist dangerously, "That may be – but I'll sure as hell know by the end!"

-:-

"This is where Urameshi's _reigan_ when off?" Kuwabara wondered, "It seems pretty quiet to me…" he added noting the lack of movement within the hospital building, "But hospitals are usually quiet, right?"

Kaitou pushed his glasses back onto his nose, "I know it sounds cliché – but it's almost too quiet."

The second redhead nodded, "However, Kaitou's right; if Yusuke's spirit gun went off, there should be a reason. But it's just too quiet if they're in the situation I think they're in," he glanced over the darkened windows, "If they've met up with one of the people we're looking for, there should be a decent commotion going on…"

Botan frowned, "Then is it possible that the hospital could be someone's territory?" she put her hands on her hi8ps as Kurama nodded, "Then wouldn't it be dangerous to go in without thinking this through?" she grinned, "Especially since Kuwabara-_kun_ here can't use his _reiki_ anymore…"

Kazuma lowered his head and pushed his fingers together, "Why'd you have to remind me?" he asked glumly.

"I think it might be best if I go in alone," Kurama said, changing the subject, "You should all stay behind and make sure n o one else goes inside."

They nodded in unison as he raced off across the lawn. Entering from the front door would be dangerous, he decided. His hand flashed to the back of his head and withdrew the rose from within. Kurama whipped it above him and watched as it latched onto the fence lining the rooftop. The vine pulled him up and over the building and he landing amongst the rows of hospital sheets drifting casually in the wind.

The akage frowned darkly as he put away the whip. He was sure of it now…he had just entered someone's territory. He pushed past the linen and found himself in front of the roof exit. Kurama's hand latched onto the handle and he clenched his teeth slightly.

_You better be keeping her safe, Yusuke_, he muttered inwardly.

-:-

"HAAAA!"

A blast of _reiki_ burst from Genkai's hands and raced down the hallway. The blast obliterated the disease-ridden insects charging after her. Her eyes flickered and even before all the bugs had been destroyed, a new batch suddenly appeared to replace them. The old woman cursed under her breath and took off down the hall swiftly.

"This whole hospital has gone to hell," she growled to herself.

-:-

Sniper lowered the binoculars from his eyes as the akage disappeared within the building. He frowned slightly and seemed a little unnerved as he noticed, "It looks like they've all fallen into Kamiya's trap now," he said and placed his hand within his coat pocket.

The younger boy behind him grinned eagerly, "But that can be a good thing, can't it? At least it tells us they have _some_ form of intelligence; they at least decided to group together…not that it'll matter anyway…" he added.

In front of both of them, Sensui's hand laced slowly around the chain-linked fence attached to the rooftop. A smile was beginning to creep onto his lips as his dark eyes flickered towards the hospital, "Well it appears as though we won't have to do anything quite yet; Kamiya looks to be handling things quite nicely."

Hagiri and Seaman frowned in unison.

"What? You're gonna let him have all the fun?" the younger boy asked in disappointment.

"You could at least let us go and make sure he gets it right," Sniper muttered in irritation, and with a wry smile added, "You know he gets too trigger-happy sometimes..."

But the psychic closed his eyes and seemed to smile sadistically, "Your help won't be needed," he said calmly, "We're just take this opportunity to gauge Mr. Urameshi's strength for later on…

"I think I still want to play with him a little while longer."

-:-

Kamiya laughed, "Tick tock, tick tock, Mr. Urameshi," he cackled as Yusuke's eyes flashed dangerously, "Ten minutes are left and you still have yet to knock me out or kill me. But I'll tell you a secret…" he said deviously, "I won't be knocked out…so I guess that only leaves you one last choice. And you don't seem to be too keen on that idea…"

Mai saw the detective's hand clench furiously as the Doctor slowly began to pace around them. The guardian followed behind as the three of them created a circle around one another.

The psychic grinned maliciously, "or is the great Urameshi Yusuke incapable of taking another _ningen's_ life? Have you ever killed a human, Mr. Urameshi…?"

"Shut up!" Mai shouted, seeing the distress in Yusuke's eyes.

Kamiya laughed again, "So I guess it's true then, all humans really deserve to die after all. They don't even have the guts to live," he began laughing again as if he had just made some clever joke.

Urameshi interrupted him, "You know, I'm starting to think that you're one of those people that the more you see them, the more you seem to hate them," he muttered darkly and clenched his fist again.

"Heh," the Doctor grinned, "I think I'll take that as a compliment."

The detective's gaze darkened murderously – and the windows suddenly began to shake violently. Mai took a step backwards as the fluorescent lighting began to flicker spontaneously once more. Her gaze flickered and caught sight of a ball of light that absorbed the detective's finger. Its sheer power began to rattle the entire hallway and the guardian staggered as the detective's glare burned fiercely.

Yusuke glared up at the psychic before him, "This time I'm serious," he growled.

The Doctor's eyes widened and he took a step back, "You won't do it…" he insisted.

He raised his index finger in front of him, "Heh," he muttered, "You want to think that, don't you?" he smirked cockily, "But guess what? This time…I _will_ kill you."

Kamiya staggered backwards, laughing nervously, "Heh! You can't kill me! If you do, you won't get any information from me!" he grinned, "And you wouldn't want that to happen, would you?"

But the detective didn't lower his hand, "I don't really care about that now – I'll think about that _after_ I bash your skull in," he growled darkly as the org at the tip of his finger grew, "And I promise I won't miss this time—"

In the instant before he fired the blast – a door beside them opened. Yusuke froze abruptly as a nurse staggered out into the hallway. And at the same time, both Mai and Yusuke cried out, when they both realized what would happen next—

Suddenly, Kamiya's hand latched out and grasped the color of her uniform. She cried out as he clutched her shoulders and held his glowing fingertips at her throat.

"Hah!" the Doctor cackled as the nurse struggled in his grasp, "Come any closer, Mr. Urameshi – and I'll slit her throat!"

Mai and Yusuke froze and the detective clenched his teeth as his fingers dug fiercely into his palm. The Doctor began laughing in front of him and back away slowly; knowing fully that there was nothing they could do to stop him.

His eyes glinted maliciously, "Well, well…it looks like I have the upper-hand now, Mr. Urameshi…you would never kill me to begin with – but you know there isn't anything you can do. Not unless you wish to sacrifice this girl's life, that is…"

Urameshi's gaze darkened dangerously…

And Mai felt her hand balling into a fist.

-:-

Koenma's eyes flickered slightly when he heard Ayame morph through the wall behind him. The ferry-girl paused a few steps behind him and glanced curiously over the ledge at the clouds and endless expanse of highways below.

"Here you are, Koenma sir…" she said quietly, but she quickly returned to the business at hand, "It seems as though the situation at the hospital has gotten very heated…and the portal, sir," she added, "It continued to open at an alarming rate; more so than it's supposed to."

The demigod's gaze darkened slightly, "So it really isn't any normal person behind this…" he said to himself softly.

Ayame watched him gently, "But at this rate, sir, they'll eventually reach the _kekkai_ barrier, right? So…they'll have to suspend the expansion of the tunnel for awhile. We still have some time left so we can figure out a solution…"

He nodded slowly, but didn't answer her.

-:-

Yusuke clenched his fist, "_Oi_! Are you going to have to die to understand that the portal you idiots are creating is gonna affect all of you as well? Those _youkai_ don't' care – they'll kill everyone!"

The Doctor grinned, shoving his fingertips closer to the girl's throat, "So?"

He glared furiously, "It's suicide."

Kamiya cackled maliciously, "Oh, but I've been tying to avoid death for a long time…I wouldn't mind being killed by a couple of demons…just so long as my grave is right there beside all the other humans who will be killed—"

Suddenly, the nurse in his grip sent him a glare of her own, "Then you can go to hell yourself!" she cried and suddenly withdrew a vile from her skirt and sloshed him with the liquid concealed within. With a sickening hiss, the liquid seared at Kamiya's face and he screamed in pain. His grip lessened on the girl and she wrenched herself free from his grasp as he staggered back in pain. She started to run down the hall with a smug look across her face…

But the Doctor would have none of that.

_Reiki_ flared at his fingertips and he slashed down across the hallway. The nurse cried out in pain as the attack ripped open her stomach. Blood splattered across the tiled floor as her body spiraled up against the wall and she slumped to the floor. But as she fell, her features suddenly began to morph and change shape…

Yusuke's eyes widened, "Yana!"

The guardian ran forward suddenly, "Yanagisawa-_san_!" she cried frantically.

The psychic smiled weakly, "Ah…it's only a flesh wound, I'll be fine…" he insisted weakly.

"You idiot!" Mai shouted as the detective called for her to stop. She had just knelt beside him – when she suddenly found a hand latching onto the back of her neck. She gasped as Kamiya yanked her back. His grip began to delay the blood flow to her head and her vision blurred fiercely.

"_Mai!_"

Kamiya smirked maliciously as he started to back away again, "So is this one of your skilled friends, Mr. Urameshi?" he asked, gesturing towards Yana – and a look of uncertainty crossed his eyes, even though he knew for sure this time Yusuke wouldn't attack. But if this was one of the ones Sensui had told him about, he had to stay on his guard. The girl in his grasp struggled weakly and Urameshi stood frozen helplessly.

The Doctor grinned and suddenly whirled to run; Mai gasping slightly as he whipped her around with him. But he froze suddenly when a sudden blockade got in his way.

Master Genkai stood at the other end of the hallway, her eyes narrowed darkly towards him, "Personally I don't want to have to kill another human either – but you have no where to go, so you better give up now while you can—"

"And _I'm_ giving you one last chance," Yusuke muttered and held up his finger threateningly.

"Dammit Yusuke!" Mai shouted at him furiously, "Don't be such an ass! Shoot him already—!"

She gasped and cried out as Kamiya's grip tightened around her tiny throat. And yet, the smirk did not fade from his face. Instead, he leaned his head closer to hers and grinned.

"You really are a lot like him…I never would have guessed," he whispered so that only she could hear. The guardian tensed under his grip, "I didn't ever believe a little child like you could hone the same ideals as _him_; easily willing to sacrifice another human life…"

Her eyes widened, "What?" she whispered.

"Kamiya!" Yusuke roared furiously; his fingertip flickered with _reiki_ as his eyes flashed dangerously, "Let her go now and release your territory, you son of a bitch!"

"Shoot him Yusuke!" Mai screamed.

Footsteps suddenly resounded from the hallway behind Genkai. The group turned to find both Kurama and Murota racing down the corridor. They froze behind the old woman and Kurama's eyes widened, "Mai!"

The Doctor's gaze flickered around him at the numbers crowding the hallway. He gritted his teeth…before a small smile of surrender crossed his lips.

"I _do_ have a cure you know – a serum," he informed them coolly, "You'll need it if you want your friends to live," he said and withdrew a clear vial with his free hand.

Urameshi clenched his teeth, "Is that so?" he muttered.

But Murota stopped him suddenly, "Ah! Don't trust him, Urameshi!" he shouted abruptly and took a step forward, "He's lying – that serum is only a bottle of water!"

The detective froze and cocked his eyebrow, "Heh," he smirked, "Sorry, but I'll have to trust the mind-reader, Kamiya," he muttered and raised his finger again towards the psychic.

Kamiya gritted his teeth and swore inwardly, but smirked and let the vial crash to the floor, "I guess the jig is up," he said calmly. And without warning, shoved the guardian away from him and charged towards the detective. Kurama caught Mai as she stumbled. He glanced up hurriedly as the Doctor charged, "Yusuke!"

But the detective cocked his fist readily as the Doctor raced forward.

His fist caught Kamiya in the gut and uprooted him swiftly from the ground. The detective clenched his other hand and sent it drilling into his ribs. A barrage of punches soon followed and kept Kamiya suspended in the air. The psychic's eyes widened in pain as the attacks continued nonstop – but inwardly he was smiling.

_Just think…_ he mused inwardly, _even if I'm going to be beaten…hundreds of people will be dying while Urameshi is preoccupied here…his time is up_.

A flash of _reiki_ flared at Yusuke's fist suddenly and what seemed to be a look of remorse flashed across his face. The detective brought his hand behind his ear and clenched his teeth.

"_Shikuso!_"

He brought his fist around his slammed it into Kamiya's chest. The sound of breaking ribs echoed in his ears as the psychic's body hurtled towards the window behind him. In almost slow motion, Yusuke saw the glass shatter and the Doctor's body contort as he tumbled across the pavement on the other side. Kamiya groaned in pain when he had come to a halt, and writhed about on the ground…

Before he finally grew still.

Mai turned suddenly as Yanagisawa's color changed back to normal. She immediately knelt next to him and out of instinct placed her hand on his bleeding abdomen, "Yana-_san_!"

But Yusuke was shaking. He stared horrified down at his hands, _Why…? Dammit, why did you make me kill you—!_

He froze suddenly and his eyes flickered upwards through the shattered glass. Master Genkai had suddenly materialized next to the Doctor's body. She knelt swiftly and raised her hand; sending a sharp blow to the psychic's chest. The older woman placed her head against it and withdrew. Urameshi stared at her. She noticed his gaze and snorted.

"Can't have you sulking around, dimwit," she said bluntly, "Especially at times like these…" she snorted again and walked towards them, "His heart's beating now – he'll be fine, unfortunately. But get this through your this skull: you're not responsible for the lives of people like this."

She hopped back into the hallway to help Yana back to his feet – and possibly stop the bleeding. But when she reached them, she frowned slightly when she noticed the psychic's wound was completely healed. Her frown remained but said nothing as she assisted Kurama and Mai in helping him up.

Yusuke stared down at his hands – this time with an incurable smile—

"_Oi!_ Urameshi!" Kuwabara's voice shouted towards them. The group turned and saw him waving enthusiastically at them as the second part of their group appeared behind him.

"What are you all doing?" Botan called, taking note of the bizarre scene.

Yusuke scratched the back of his neck, "Ah…well, we'll explain it all later…" he glanced at the group briefly, "Hey, do you think you can go the rounds and fix us up, Botan?" he asked, "I think Mai got sliced on the cheek earlier…"

He trailed off as he turned and he blinked – when he suddenly realized something.

The ferry-girl blinked, "What cut?"

Mai blinked this time and touched her cheek, only to find that the wound was gone.

"—PUU!"

Yusuke blinked again and glanced up as the spirit beast flapped awkwardly towards him. He was followed shortly by Hywein, Keiko, and Shizuru.

"Keiko-_san_!" Mai cried, "What are you and Shizuru-_san_ doing here?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Kazuma grumbled and his sister whirled on him.

"Oh?" she said challengingly, "And what trouble have you gotten into, little bro? We're here because that little puff-ball and that annoying feeling I get when you've gotten your ass into a big heap of trouble."

He turned to shout a retort, but the look she gave him forced him to stop and reconsider. Mai, in the meantime, knelt down and let Hywein follow up her arm to her shoulder. The spirit beast purred and rubbed up against her cheek while Yusuke sat accusing Puu of leading the other two girls into unnecessary danger (Puu merely purred happily)/

Kurama lifted his head suddenly and glanced towards the road. Faintly, sirens blared in the approaching distance, "We should probably leave…" he said, "This might be a little hard to explain to the police…"

The nodded as they too heard the sirens, and Kaitou stepped forward, "I'll stay behind and talk to the police then," he offered, "And…" he gestured over his shoulder, "That this one doesn't escape before they get here."

The sirens were right on top of them as the rest of the group dispersed.

-:-

Silent footsteps trailed after one another down the sidewalk. Mai's hand brushed lazily against the foliage hanging down from the walls above. Her pace was slow and her gaze seemed distant. Yusuke walked ahead of her with his hands placed behind his head casually and was talking to her without her even noticing.

"…but that was definitely not the smoothest fight I've been through…" he said oblivious to her indifferent nature.

But her tiny fist clenched anyway and her gaze darkened.

"Geez, and what's with you getting kidnapped or taken hostage all the time? It's like you have a giant sign on you saying 'Oh please just take me hostage!'" he said imitating her voice poorly—

"_Shimatta!_"

Yusuke turned and blinked, "What? Did you forget something—?"

"I'm sick of it Yusuke…" the guardian muttered darkly. Her fist shook slightly as the detective watched her in confusion. Mai clenched her eyes shut, "I'm sick of always being in the way! I'm sick of always being your burden!"

His gaze softened suddenly, "Mai…"

But she wasn't finished. Her eyes were fiercely filling with tears, "I'm just sick of it…" she whispered, "I know Kazuma and I don't have control of out spirit energy anymore…but that doesn't mean we don't know how to defend ourselves…I…I don't want you worrying about me all the time," her fist clenched, "I saw it when you were fighting, you were too worried about me to concentrate – and I hate it! I'm _your_ guardian – it's not the other way around!"

Her shoulders began to quake and Yusuke stood helplessly in front of her. After a moment, he sighed heavily and placed his hand on top of her head. Mai hiccupped and stopped shaking.

"Have I told you already that you're hopeless?"

She brushed his hand away, "_Baka_..."

He grinned goofily as he turned and started heading back down the sidewalk, "If it's any consolation…I really don't mind. Besides," he inclined his head back towards her, "It's become a bit of a habit, I can't help it…"

Urameshi continued walking…

"Yusuke…?"

He stopped again and turned to find that the guardian hadn't budged. Her eyes were downcast at her feet.

"Promise me…" she said quietly, "That…the next time something like that happens…you'll continue fighting and won't think of me, alright? I'm a big girl; I can take care of myself…"

Yusuke laughed and gave her a thumbs-up.

"Deal."

-:-

a/n: stupid Mai getting kidnapped (: P)

Ah but it makes me sad T.T I drew a really cute picture of Mai and Yusuke, but I can't put it up on my deviantArt account cuz I can't get the right colors…

Anyway – sorry for the long wait, _minna-san_!

PEACE AND LOVE


	8. Caught in the Rain

DISCLAIMER: I don't own YYH or, well, anything else n.n;; But Mai, all my original characters, and original tweaks to the storyline are mine.

a/n: uh…nothing really much to say I guess n.n;;

And I've decided to change the rating back 'cuz the M-rated stuff won't come in till later. (But I'll be sure to warn everyone when it does)

But honestly, even if you just skim through the chapter, I really do like hearing from all of you (hehe, even if you hate it, too) And I hate to say it, but I really don't have to keep updating n.n;;

YAY KAZUMA-_KUN_!

_Thoughts_

_Forever Fornever III_

:Caught in the Rain:

"Well excuse me if I'm not a college boy philosophy grad or some church dude talkin' about a higher calling!" Yusuke muttered as he chewed irritably on the _onigiri_ in his hand, "But to me, none of this makes sense. This doc _knew_ he would die if he opened that tunnel – he _knew_…"

Kuwabara watched him, "That's freaky…" he took a bite out of his sub and continued talking, "I just figured if they had a human on their side, they weren't telling him what he was getting into, but he knew?"

He took out another bite of his sandwich thoughtfully and glanced over the ledge of the rooftop down at the other students gathered in the courtyard. Urameshi sat across from him against a wall. The detective was chewing on his rice ball slowly as he closed his eyes.

"Mmhmm…" the detective replied, "The whole shebang…he said we all deserved to go 'cause we were diseased or somethin'."

Kazuma crumpled a piece of trash in his fist and tossed it over his shoulder, "Sounds like fanatic cult stuff…" he decided, taking yet another bite from his sandwich.

Urameshi nodded, "Amen," he said wryly.

But the redhead frowned slightly, "But I don't get it – if they're so bummed about their own lives, why don't they just take up rock climbing without ropes; risk themselves instead of blaming it on innocent people. Or at least only pick on us tough guys," he added as Yusuke began to rummage through his lunch bag, "I mean, geez…Well, what do you think, Mai?" he called to the guardian.

He glanced up to see if she would respond, but – like for the past half hour – she remained silent. The guardian was lying on top of the roof floor carelessly; her back turned towards them. And whether or not she was even still awake was beyond them – but the detective didn't seem at all fazed by her silence.

"I wouldn't bother, Kuwabara…" he said, "She's been out of it ever since the other day. See, watch."

The detective picked apart a piece of his _onigiri_ and placed it between his fingers. He aimed briefly before flicking it at her head. The food particle bounced off against her head before settling to the ground next to her. She didn't even flinch. Urameshi looked as though he was going to flick another piece of food at her, but she suddenly cut him off.

"Throw another riceball at me, Yusuke, and I'll shove _your_ riceballs down your throat."

Kazuma blinked, but the detective just shrugged and tossed the rest of the _onigiri_ in his mouth, "Ksh…moody."

"What's gotten into her…?"

The two of them started talking again and Mai easily zoned them out. She gazed distantly at the concrete tiles below her; her finger lazily tracing each crevice they made. Her mind wandered fruitlessly, but she always seemed to have the same words echoing inside.

'_You really are just like _him_…'_

But like who—?

She was cut off suddenly when the rooftop doors slammed open. Botan immediately staggered out onto the roof; her usual briefcase attached to her hand, "Emergency!" she cried.

"What is it, Botan?" Yusuke asked blandly, "They run out of your hair dye?"

The ferry-girl was panting as she hurriedly knelt to the ground; placing the briefcase on the floor in front of her. She whipped her head towards him, "Sorry Yusuke, but this is not time for jokes! The tunnel to Makai will be finished in a week!"

"_WHAT?_"

All three of them (including Mai) suddenly shot to their feet.

Yusuke gaped, "But—"

"There's no time for 'buts' either!" she said as she lifted open the case, "Just listen, already!"

The screen crackled briefly before Koenma appeared on the screen, "Yes, Yusuke, listen. That's Botan's natural color. It doesn't make sense to tease her."

Urameshi knelt beside the screen, "What the hell is this? What's all this talk about one week, Koenma?" he demanded. Kazuma lowered himself too, and Mai came to stand behind him, "You told us three weeks, just the other night!"

The demigod frowned and lowered his head, "That's the thing about the information business…" he pushed a button on his side of the screen, and a new slide appeared showing a three-dimensional landscape and a giant orb at its center, "…Always subject to updates. Look Yusuke, we goofed. We assumed the tunnel's center-point was on the earth's surface. It was only after Kurama's team visited the site that I ordered a depth analysis," the orb in the center began to fall, "And found the center to be five-hundred and fifty meters underground," the screen changed again so that only the sphere was visible, "Here's an overhead view of the distortion zone we see on the surface, but here's the actual zone at the center-point," the circle began to radiate dangerously close to its edges, "Deceptively larger," the screen returned to the demigod, "I was being simplistic when I said the distortion takes the form of a circle – it's really a sphere. The circle or dome we see on the surface is just a cross-section of its tip…"

Kuwabara frowned and turned towards the detective, "Urameshi, tell me what's on the screen, I can't see without my spirit powers – and I guess neither can Mai," he added, "Like what's he sayin'?"

But Yusuke frowned seriously and closed his eyes. He clenched his fist angrily.

"Er, spheres and stuff – geometry's next year!" he shouted.

Botan face-faltered and Kazuma stared at him dumbly, "Uh, what?"

"Gah!" the ferry-girl cried in exasperation, "It's basic math! It's to show why we only have a week…" she sighed heavily and rubbed her temple, "Why couldn't Keiko be the one with the spirit gun?" she wondered hopelessly.

Mai frowned, "For some reason I resent that…"

But Yusuke quickly returned to business. He glanced up at Botan, "He said five-hundred meters underground, right? That's one crazy sewer—"

"It's a cave system," Koenma quickly corrected, "The closest entrance is in a suburb of Mushiyori City. A tunnel with the most appropriate name, if I do say so myself…"

Urameshi frowned, "Go on…"

The screen changed again, "Irima Cave – _Demon's Door_."

The detective nodded and suddenly straightened, followed by Kazuma and Mai. Yusuke stood with a new attitude, as he punched his fist in his hand readily, "Well we won't save the world sitting here resting our asses! I say we head on over and crash that end-of-the-world party of theirs!"

"Now wait just a minute, Yu—!" Koenma started, but he was quickly cut off as Botan began to lift the briefcase off the ground; already agreeing with the detective. The demigod protested wildly on the other side of the screen – as the ferry-girl calmly closed the briefcase shut.

"Let's get the crew together then!" the detective said, smirking, "Looks like we're heading into the suburbs of Mushiyori!"

"Right!"

-:-

The group charged swiftly across the courtyard and through the main gates. Yusuke, Botan, and Mai took an immediate right – while Kuwabara suddenly hurried to a quick left.

"Byeguys—!" he shouted rapidly over his shoulder.

The other trio slowed and turned to watch him race down the sidewalk, "Kuwabara, hold up!" Yusuke called to him. The redhead reluctantly slid to an abrupt halt and twitched guiltily, "Kurama's school is this way, stupid...don't tell me your sense of direction has gone south too…?"

Kazuma mumbled, "Sorry…" he turned slowly back towards them, "I…can't go with you guys today…"

They stared at him curiously and Yusuke put his hand on his waist, "Got the runs or somethin'?" he asked suspiciously. The redhead seemed oddly nervous – even for him.

But Kuwabara shook his head, "No, it's just…" there was a pause before he suddenly burst out laughing and scratched the back of his neck, "You know! Hahaha! Heh…" he trailed off; not really being too persuasive. The trio in front of him could only stare at him in a bizarre twist of confusion.

Yusuke frowned, "What the hell does 'You know' mean? Is it that time of the month for you or something—?"

Both Mai and Botan suddenly punched him in the face.

"Now you're just being a pig," the guardian accused him irritably. But then she turned back to Kazuma, "Why can't you come?" she wondered.

Kuwabara grew strangely serious all of a sudden, and he frowned, "This is why…" he answered – and lifted a slip of laminated paper. His companions continued to stare, "Floor tickets…" he said, "—FOR MEGALICA'S WORLD TOUR!" he cried suddenly in enthusiasm and laughed excitedly. The trio blinked stupidly.

"There you are, Kuwabara!"

Three of Kazuma's friends met them out on the sidewalk, "Come on! Let's be first in line!" "I'm getting a T-shirt!" the spoke in excited tones with one another as the redhead continued to grin from ear to ear. "Hurry up, Kuwabara – if we miss this, we're taking it out on you later!"

Kazuma laughed and turned to follow them down the walkway. He waved over his shoulder at the other three, "See you guys!" he turned, happily humming to himself – when a hand suddenly gripped his shoulder.

"_Oi_, you forgot something."

"Eh—?"

Yusuke's fist suddenly swung around and landed at the side of the redhead's face. Kuwabara crumpled as Mai angrily shouted at the detective that he was acting like an ass again. But he ignored her.

"We're saving the world! No pop bands!" he shouted at the redhead.

"_Pop band_?" Kazuma repeated dangerously as he abruptly jumped to his feet, "Don't you dare call Megalica a pop band!" he roared and swiftly returned the punch right back at the detective's jaw; sending him staggering backwards.

But Yusuke punched him right back. The redhead angrily tackled him to the ground and drilled him with fists to the face – but then Yusuke flipped him over and pounded him as well, "—You and your stupid-ass pop bands!" the detective shouted while Kazuma's friends watched nonchalantly, if not without a bit of amusement.

"Wow."

Okuba laughed, "Yeah, their fights are great. It's really hard for them not to…"

Botan scowled, "Don't just stand there and look impressed!"

Urameshi continued punching Kuwabara – until the redhead locked him between his knees and the detective was flung backwards. They locked fists a final time before they jumped apart from one another, panting heavily. Kuwabara frowned angrily.

"What if I told you I had front row seats to the Martial Arts World Championship?" he challenged, "Would you turn that down?"

Yusuke froze suddenly – and made a strange 'urk-ing' sound as the thought suddenly occurred to him, and he was torn. He grabbed his head frantically and muttered incomprehensible profanities under his breath. Mai and Botan stared at him bluntly.

"Some hero…" the guardian noted blandly.

Kazuma frowned slightly, "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I bought these tickets a year ago – and there's no way I'll miss 'em!" he grinned suddenly and pointed his finger at the detective, "Even if the end of the world _was_ tomorrow – I'd still go! That just makes it all the more important!"

He was still gripping his head as he snorted and turned away, "Ksh, whatever groupie. Go headbang – just don't expect me to save your ass when it's demon season around here," he said cockily.

"Like I need help from you!" Kuwabara shouted, "I'm so sick of your 'Big-man' crap! Maybe I won't help you tomorrow either – let you see how you _do_ need me!" he shouted – just as Yusuke stuck out his tongue at him. The redhead growled furiously as the two of them whirled back towards each other so they were in the other's face.

"Fine!"

Mai and Botan sighed, "And _that's_ how the human race ended."

Kuwabara and his friends started making their way back down the sidewalk. The guardian blinked before she suddenly raced back after them, "Wait, Kuwabara!"

The redhead turned, obviously still heated from his fight with Urameshi, but he didn't sound it when he talked to her, "What's up Mai?"

She smiled and bowed her head slightly, "Please be safe Kazuma" she asked, "And be careful without any of your powers – I know he doesn't show it, but Yusuke really does worry about you."

Kazuma blinked, but he grinned a moment later, "Ah, don't worry about it. I have to come back in one piece, after all. Since Urameshi's been doing a pretty sucky job of keeping an eye on you – I'll have to come back and make sure he got it right."

Mai opened her mouth as if to respond, but stopped herself and smiled, "Right."

-:-

"…I've just been to town, Itsuki…"

The psychic tilted his head and glanced across the lake at the dark-haired man standing along the shore.

"It's filled with demon insects…" Sensui informed him, "It seems that you are expanding the tunnel even faster than I expected," he added with a sardonic smile to him from across the water front.

But Itsuki lowered his head again, "It's head to explain, Mr. Sensui…" he said quietly, "I've been feeling most peculiar…my power almost seem merged in this rapid stream; like the tunnel has a life of it's own…like it wants to _grow_," his eyes opened slowly, "It'll all be over once we find someone strong enough to break the _kekkai_ barrier…"

"Then that's all we'll need," his eyes flickered, "I'm sending out our colleagues – they're exploring the area for a capable psychic…" he smirked as his gaze darkened, "They're also fighting Yusuke's team every chance they get…because I suspect our two needs…are actually one."

Sensui placed his hand into his pocket.

"Not to mention…our special guest has yet to make their appearance…"

-:-

"GIVE ME A BREAK!" Yusuke shouted, "WHAT'DYA MEAN 'HE'S MISSING'?"

The rest of the team (for the most part) sat encircled around the detective's living room floor – as Yusuke himself stormed angrily through the room. Night had fallen, and so far, no one knew exactly where Kurama was.

Kaitou sat calmly across from him and pushed up his glass, "Well, he didn't come to school today…" he noted (though that was probably just as helpful as telling him the tunnel to Makai would open in an hour).

Yusuke growled furiously under his breath as he clenched his fist, "Hiei, then Kuwabara – and now Kurama! You can't count on anybody! You can't do this kind of stuff on your own—!"

_DONK!_

Genkai tossed a tea cup carelessly at his face and conked him on the head. He crumpled as she closed her eyes calmly, "Ah, shut up!" she waited until his body fell before she continued, "Now that we know where these psychics are hiding, we can mount an attack. But it must be carefully planned…"

"I've heard of Irima Cave," Yana said, "It's like an urban legend…"

Kaitou nodded, "It's said scorn lovers go there to die – which shows our enemies enjoy a bit of irony…" he noted, "If _we_ go in unprepared it might be suicide as well."

Urameshi jumped to his feet, "_Oi_! I don't need a lesson from you too, rookie!" he shouted. He clenched his fists and turned; heading towards the door, grumbling furiously to himself, "Stupid freckles..."

"Where do you think you're going?" Mai stopped him.

He froze irritably, "Dammit! Everybody just leave me the hell alone!" he kicked open the front door heatedly; "I'm going to the arcade!"

Beside the guardian, Keiko frowned slightly, "Should he be going out alone, Master Genkai?"

The old woman hardly glanced up, "Give him his space…if he's _that_ dumb, he deserves to die after all. But I suspect he's really worried about Kuwabara. The dimwit's so stubborn he won't even come out and say it himself…"

Mai watched her a moment longer before her gaze flickered towards the window. It would rain soon; she could smell it in the air earlier that day. But…She frowned…right now there was something different about the air that sent a shiver racing down her spine. It seemed to ripple as if…there was a voice in the wind speaking in some sort of—

Her eyes widened.

The guardian staggered out of her seat in a frantic hurry. She raced towards the door after Yusuke – but not without grabbing an umbrella on the way out. The others stared at her as Keiko called out, "Mai-_chan_!"

But the door had already closed shut.

Mai nearly slipped down the stairs in her hurry. She hadn't gone to the arcade enough times to know where it was – not that Yusuke would have listened to her anyway. He was still too angry with Kuwabara to even think about going to his aid. But Kazuma – she needed to get to Kazuma!

She slid to a halt suddenly at the bottom of the staircase. She was panting as she glanced down either direction of the road. A rain drop plopped against her arm and the damp wind blew across her face; sending tendrils of her hair billowing around her. The guardian's eyes suddenly grew wide as a soft whisper seemed to caress her cheek; sending a shiver through her body.

Her heart was pumping in her ears as she stood breathing heavily.

…_Somebody's calling me…_

-:-

"Please! Not records!" Jorge pleaded, "Koenma will discipline me if he finds out! The other day he disciplined me so hard my hip popped out of socket and I couldn't fit into my loin cloth – and loins are important to us ogres, especially when courting the ladies, and I haven't gotten married yet – my mother's hounding me about it…Do you know where I can find a new job? I need one. I think he likes the pink ogre more than me, he always calls for him by name…"

The Reikai Library doors opened and Kurama continued to ignore the ogre following behind him. He calmly searched through each aisle before finally finding what he was looking for.

"_WOULD YOU CAN IT ALREADY, JORGE!_" The demigod shouted furiously – hardly even noticing the akage below him at first. He blinked however, when he _did_ eventually realize that he had company, "Ah, Kurama…why are you here?" he asked (secretly hoping that it wasn't for the reason he suspected it to be).

"I've come to pose a question," Kurama answered calmly.

The demigod stared at him before returning to his records with a sigh, "Oh brother…" he muttered under his breath.

Kurama watched him seriously on the other hand, "I believe you know the true identity of the mastermind of this tunnel…am I right?" he challenged softly.

But Koenma refused to look at him, "Don't be ridiculous. If I knew who he was, don't you think I would have told you so you could stop him?" he reassured him as he waved him off with his hand.

The redhead frowned, "Perhaps not…if you feared he would defeat us…" Koenma's head shot up, "Your behavior has been an erratic blend of urgency and silence. I think you're scrambling because you don't know how we can win," his eyes narrowed seriously, "That means you know things that we do not, like his identity…and his past."

The record in Koenma's hand dropped to the floor as he stood angrily on his stool, "How dare you accuse me with some groundless hunch!" he demanded. But Kurama's gaze darkened seriously as he watched the demigod.

"…But I'm right, am I not?"

-:-

Cheers radiated from within the stadium as a steady layer of rain made it way down to earth. Footsteps sloshed in the wet pavement as a single figure made their way closer towards the arena. They stopped just out of range of the light shining down from the top of the stadium; a smirk etched across their face as a yellow hood placed a shadow over their eyes. He paused a moment and glance dup a the building before he fiddled with something in his pocket and withdrew a silver pocket knife.

With a flick of his wrist, the blade appeared and shone dimly beneath the fluorescent lighting. He raised his other hand with a protruding finger – and with a clean slice, opened a small wound on his fingertip. Blood instantly began to bubble up from the cut and trickle down his hand.

He lowered his arm to his side just as a second figure appeared behind him. Sensui smiled as he held an umbrella over the boy's head, "April showers…" he said simply. The boy in the yellow jacket glance dup at him and smirked, "Is this a good time for you?"

"Yeah…probably."

The dark-haired man stood beside him for a moment before handing him the umbrella from his hand, "I'm just sorry I can't stay for the show…But I have an appearance I need to make…" he turned calmly and walked away from the boy and the stadium.

"Mr. Sensui—!"

He turned just as the psychic tossed him back the folded umbrella. He caught it with ease as the younger boy smiled simply.

"I don't think I'll be needing that…" he told him, "It's a nice night…I think I'll take it in while I can," the boy smiled again and turned back to face the stadium. Sensui closed his eyes and smirked.

"I look forward to good results, Seaman."

-:-

Mai slipped through the puddles beginning to fill the streets around her. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears as her breaths began to come out in ragged gasps. It was at times like these that she wished she had Kurama's photographic memory so that she could find the damn stadium. Something in the back of her head kept telling her that something was amiss--

…he was waiting…

The guardian turned abruptly down a corner onto a new street. She had to get to Kazuma before one of the seven got to him first. She had no idea what she would do – she had no spirit powers to protect him or anyone else, especially against another psychic. But right now, it made all the difference just to know whether or not he was okay.

…but there was _him_ too…

_he_ was waiting…

Her feet continued carrying her – despite the fact she hadn't the slightest clue where she was going – she kept going wherever her legs would take her. Mai stumbled through the dampened streets in the direction she hoped the stadium was in. But truly, she knew that she was lost and had no idea _where_ she was going. The guardian slipped and turned down another street.

She stumbled suddenly when her knees buckled beneath her. She slid into the water covering the streets, but didn't bother getting up. She panted heavily into the puddle beneath her as she felt tears beginning to swell within her eyes. Her fist clenched; she was hopeless – useless for that matter…

What could she do to help Kuwabara? If anything, she'd probably just get in the way…

So what was it that kept her going?

"I'm sorry Kazuma…" she whispered into the street as a tear traced the side of her face, "_Gomen nasai_ – I'm so sorry. I can't protect you…I can't protect anyone anymore…"

Slowly, she began to raise herself to her knees as she trembled beneath the pouring rain. A shaking hand clenched around the handle of her umbrella and she hugged it close to her. And she sat there…shaking in the rain as its quiet symphony pattered against the shield above her head. All throughout her mind, the same thought – the same idea – that she was completely useless to everyone continued to haunt her; she wanted to help them…she wanted to help her friends, not be a burden—

Mai tensed suddenly.

A pair of footsteps resounded in front of her; eerily soft against the puddles filling the street and she wondered how anyone's footsteps could be that soft in this weather. Mai stopped as the second figure calmly continued walking. A black umbrella rested up against his shoulder. He stared calmly down at the ground beneath him…as if he didn't even notice her within his presence.

But the guardian couldn't help but feel her eyes widen.

…_he was waiting…_

And as if for the first time, the man heading towards her slowed to a halt only a few feet away. She sat looking up at him…and she noticed his eyes flicker towards her. A gentle smile formed at his lips. All at once, the guardian found her body shaking again as she stared at him. This man…she had seen him before…at the fountain…

…So was he also the one they called the 'Dark Angel'?

The gentle smile remained along his face as he titled his head slightly, "So it _is_ you Miss Arakawa…"

His voice was gentle too, she noticed absently. But she couldn't allow her eyes leaving him. It suddenly occurred to her that, in all truth, he almost seemed to have the serenity of angel. But that only caused her to wonder where the 'dark' part of his nickname came into play. But he seemed so different from the day before…almost…he almost seemed sad…

And the feeling had returned; she had seen him from somewhere before – and it wasn't just from the other day…

…So then why couldn't she remember?

For some odd reason, he seemed to sense her dilemma and smiled sadly, "You don't remember me, do you Miss Arakawa?" he asked softly so that even she could catch the hint of sorrow in his voice.

Was she supposed to remember him?

Mai found herself shaking her head slowly, "_Iie_…_gomen nasai_…"

A sudden flicker of pain seemed to cross his eyes, and the guardian almost wished that she hadn't said anything at all. Something about seeing this man seemed to send her heart breaking – as if she hated to see him in any sort of pain. But the dark-haired man in front of her smiled apologetically and shook his head. And for the briefest moment, Mai felt suddenly compelled to reach out and grasp his hand…He seemed so lonely for some reason…

He took a small step forward and raised his hand down towards her…and the guardian didn't feel the need to move away. His hand reached out to her and slowly felt out the lines of her face; as if trying to reach out and grasp any sort of physical humanity to prove that he was still alive. She let his hand lean down and gently brush the side of her cheek, "No…" he said and smiled once more, "It's as it should be, Arakawa-_kun_."

There was a flash of light…

And Mai felt her world go black.

-:-

The four boys cheered excitedly as they raced down the street. Kazuma grinned and leapt into the air; landing in a puddle and sliding a few feet further down the road. He laughed and pushed himself off the ground and clenched his fists enthusiastically, "My life is officially complete!" he cried gleefully.

Okuba laughed, "We were so close they could sweat on us!" he said in disbelief.

"Yeah!" Kijima agreed and grinned, "Hey! Let's hit the karaoke bar to top it all off!"

Kuwabara paused for a moment and seemed to think about it carefully, "I don't know…" he laughed and whirled back towards his friends, "Only if we sing the Megalica hits in the order they played!"

The rest of them shouted in agreement and Okuba began making some comment about a girl who had jumped on stage in the middle of the show.

But Sawamura stopped behind them and glanced over the redhead's shoulder, "_Oi_, Kuwabara…" he called, as he caught sight of the wall on the other side of the street, "Isn't that the friend you were talking to earlier? I think I remember 'cause you don't really talk to many girls…"

Kazuma blinked and looked around, "What?" he suddenly followed Sawamura's gaze towards the wall and started in alarm, "Hey! _Mai_!"

He sloshed across the street towards the guardian, who appeared to be lying peacefully beneath her umbrella underneath the pouring rain. Kuwabara swiped the umbrella away and lifted Mai to a sitting position with her shoulders. He shook them gently – but not without urgency.

"Mai!"

He stopped shaking her and she blinked suddenly. She seemed dazed for a moment, but when she realized that it was Kuwabara and his friends, she instantly shot off the ground, "Oh! Kazuma! You're still alright…" she said and blinked again. The guardian shook her head as if to clear some sort of thought, and then ran her hand through her hair absently; "That's weird…"

"Here," Kazuma offered her his hand to stand up, "We were just heading back from the concert anyway – which was wicked awesome!" he grinned as Mai brushed the rain off of her skirt and smiled.

"I'm glad you guys had fun," she told them happily.

"But Kuwabara, what about the karaoke bar?" Kijima cut in, "We were going there first, weren't we?"

The redhead brushed him off though, "Ah, just cool it. It can wait until after we get her home," he said and started walking back down the road; "You can wait until then, can't you?"

His other friends grumbled unhappily, but within moments, they were back on talking about the events that went on during the concert – and all the songs they would sing when they eventually made it to the karaoke bar later. Mai let her umbrella rest against her shoulder as she found herself transfixed on the puddles beneath her. The fluorescent streetlamps began to flicker suddenly…but no one seemed to notice.

The guardian glanced up through the umbrella she held – only to come to a sudden realization. When she had left Yusuke's apartment, she had been carrying a yellow umbrella with her…

Not a black one—

Mai stopped suddenly and turned around. _That was odd_…but she could have sworn she had heard an abnormally loud drop of water. And as she turned back to do a head count of Kuwabara and his friends, she realized that one of them was missing from the group. _Did anyone else hear that cry?_

"Kuwabara…your other friend, he'…"

The others turned around curiously and glanced back down the darkened street. It was dead silent – all save for the rain surrounding them.

"Maybe he went to the bathroom…" Kuwabara suggested.

Kijima laughed, "Your pants are soaked through anyway, Sawamura!" he called into the shadows, "There's no need to stop!" he added as Okuba, Kazuma and Mai slowly turned back towards the road. Kijima smiled and was about to follow – but froze suddenly when something caught his eye.

A dim light radiated from a puddle in front of him and he suddenly stood rigid on the spot. The water in the puddle began to bubble up and take on shape. Kijima's eyes widened in horror as the pool of water began to form into a creature nearly twice his height. Its rippling body and face eerily began to resemble a sick, twisted skull-esque shape. The monster raised his hand towards him and its finger twisted into a dangerous drill-like blade. The teen cried out in terror.

"_Kuwabara!_"

The creature raised its finger towards Kijima – and without warning, it shot out towards him. The teen raised his hands hurriedly in self-defense – but the drill was too sharp for that to stop it. Kijima's eyes widened and he screamed as a burst of blood splattered his face.

Kazuma grunted in pain as the water drilled through his hand. His blood sloshed onto the pavement in abundance as his friend cried out in shock. The drill suddenly pulled back, and out of the redhead's hand. Kuwabara screamed in pain and clenched his fist out of instinct.

"Kazuma!" Mai screamed in horror, "Kazuma, your hand!" she immediately raced to his side as he fiercely drew his hand back to his chest. The water from the drill receded back into the creature and the monster itself vanished back into a puddle.

"I don't get it…" Okuba whispered, "What the hell was that?"

Kijima stared at his friend's hand, "Kuwabara – you're hurt! And where's Sawamura – you don't think one of those things got to him, do you?"

Kuwabara clenched his teeth furiously and lifted his head, "That's enough!" he shouted into the darkness, "Show yourself, freak!"

The final streetlamp suddenly went out.

Kazuma's eyes darted furiously up and along the street; searching for anyone – any_thing_ that might be hiding in the shadows waiting for an attack. But instead, he suddenly found himself locked on a spot straight in front of them where a single lamp still shone through the dark; illuminating a single figure standing amidst the rain.

A smirk appeared beneath a yellow hood.

"I'm so glad the weatherman was right today. My powers work best…in the rain."

The redhead clenched his fist when he suddenly noticed that creature from earlier materialized next to the boy in the hood. Behind him, Okuba was shaking.

"I _really_ hope I'm having a nightmare…" he whispered.

Kuwabara's eyes widened when he caught sight of something the creature held within its grasp, "Sawamura!" he cried.

But the boy in the yellow jacket smiled, "Honestly, you should be more worried about your own short lives rather than his…" he noticed the team before him (or at least Kazuma and Mai) glare at him fiercely, but he still continued to grin, "Let me introduce myself…everyone should at least be able to know the name of the person that kills them."

The redhead gritted his teeth, "You killing me?" he challenged, "Hah! That's a joke!"

"Oh, but why all the bluffs, Kuwabara?" the boy wondered, "I know all about your lost powers…" Kazuma growled dangerously as he continued, "Kiyoshi Mitarai. Nickname: Seaman…" he introduced coolly.

Mai blinked, "One of the seven?"

"Heh," the redhead gritted his teeth, "Oh I've got a bone to pick with you."

-:-

Keiko stared worriedly out the window in front of her. The rain was really coming down now, she noted and frowned. Mai had hurried off so quickly earlier…she wondered what happened to make her so urgent, and if she had even caught up to Yusuke after he had stormed out. Or even…even if they were both still okay, and Kuwabara too. Master Genkai didn't say anything, but she _did_ seem awfully worried about them…

The front door clicked open suddenly and she lifted her head along with the others. It was a moment before Kuwabara's sister walked into the living room. Keiko blinked.

"Oh, it's you, Shizuru…"

She glanced around the room briefly and frowned, "Hey guys…you know where my bro is? I haven't seen him since he left for school…"

"I think he's at the rock concert…" Botan answered, "…or at least so I thought."

Shizuru looked worried, but she tried to mask it as she fiddled for a cigarette in her pocket, "Oh yeah, Kazuma did mention something like that…"

The younger brunette frowned, "You look really worried…"

She blinked, "Me? No…" she fumbled clumsily with the cigarette she withdrew, "Just a bad vibe – that's all…" she insisted as she placed it in her mouth. She froze suddenly and her eyes narrowed. Shizuru removed the cigarette from her mouth and slowly crushed it in her hand; a look of unease spreading across her face. Botan and Keiko glanced nervously at one another as the two psychics next to them began to stand up.

"Maybe we should escort him home," Kaitou suggested.

Yana nodded in agreement, "Good idea—"

"Sit down," Genkai ordered softly, without even taking her eyes out of her tea cup. The pair of psychics hesitated, but eventually obliged and she continued, "You remember the trouble we had with the Doctor – your friend's still confined to a hospital bed," her eyes flashed seriously up at them, "Kuwabara made his choice tonight, we can't split our group further than it already is…"

"But he's defenseless right now," Botan cut in, "And Shizuru's got a feeling!"

The old woman's gaze darkened, "We'll have to leave this one to Mai and Yusuke…" she replied calmly, "He's grown up a lot since the tournament, and he's protective of both her _and_ Kuwabara. And unless he's an absolute dope, he didn't really go to that arcade."

Keiko frowned as she held Puu closer to her, "How well do you know him?"

-:-

"Gah! DAMMIT!"

Large red letters appeared on the screen in front of the detective; taunting him with that oh-so-familiar 'Game Over' sign. He growled furiously and punched the side of the monitor. Yusuke muttered profanities under his breath as he folded his arms over his chest.

"Geez, whoever set these records were sucky!"

-:-

Blood dripped steadily onto the ground beneath him. He grimaced past the pain as he clenched his fist to try and stop the bleeding and sent a dangerous glare to the teen standing haughtily in front of them. Beside him, Mai bit her lip, she knew that she couldn't do anything to heal the wound, but it didn't stop her from feeling the pain Kazuma was going through. She felt a shiver run down her spine when she realized that – in all truth, compared to another psychic – they were all defenseless, and she suddenly wished that she had tried to persuade Yusuke to come—

"Poor thing…" Seaman said coolly, "It doesn't seem any of your friends are going to save you tonight…" his eyes flickered from Kuwabara to Mai and he smiled sardonically, "You were very foolish to move without them."

The guardian clenched her fist and cursed herself inwardly.

"I've been following you…waiting for the moment you'd go out alone," the psychic continued; addressing the redhead while his smile morphed into a smirk and Kuwabara gritted his teeth fiercely, "Something about you drew my attention. Maybe it was your naivety…"

Kazuma's eyes widened slightly as Okuba and Kijima continued to shake uncontrollably, "What the hell is that thing? It can't be real, can it?"

Beside him, Kijima clenched his fists furiously, "Whatever it is – it's real enough to have our friend!" he cried. Mai glanced at the giant creature standing beside Seaman worriedly. And she suddenly felt her body trembling and her eyes grew wide in terror for the first time in awhile.

The redhead noticed and turned, "Mai?"

Seaman smiled, "I'm glad to know you're interested. Let me show you how the monster's made…" he lifted his hand, where a single finger was wrapped in a band aid. The psychic undid the wrapping and revealed the cut he had made earlier. He raised his hand over a puddle in front of him as he pressed against the wound; blood once more beginning to bubble up at his fingertip. A single droplet trickled to the ground and landed with a plop amidst the water. There was a pause, before the water beneath him began to grow and morph before their eyes. An orb of water floated into the air and suddenly grew arms and legs; a glowing red grin etched across its face…

Kazuma and his friends stared in horror at the imp-like demon as it came to stand beside Seaman.

The psychic smirked, "My blood mixed with water…the more blood, the bigger the beast…the more moisture, the easier it spreads. That's why I am Seaman – Master of the Floods."

Okuba backed away in terror, "Look, I have brothers and sisters to take care of!" he pleaded shakily.

Mitarai smiled, "I know, Okuba…but that honestly doesn't matter, they won't live past the week anyway…" he smirked as his eyes flickered back towards the redhead, "Come on, Kuwabara, I'd like to know your opinion: which of my monsters do you like best? Little? Or big?" his eyes suddenly darkened, "Because that's the one I'm going to kill you with!"

Kuwabara's eyes narrowed towards him seriously and he gritted his teeth. Mai was still crying beside him as he shakily rose to his feet, "You're exactly like that doc Urameshi fought – a self-righteous nut!" he told him darkly.

Seaman clenched his teeth furiously – as if he were repulsed that he would even think that, "Don't you ever lug me in with that freak!" he demanded, "I have reasons!" he froze suddenly and began shaking as he clenched his fists angrily at his sides, "Good reasons…You don't know what it's like to be shunned for no apparent reason! No one ever helped me…they had all taken part in humanities darkest indulgences…" his fist was trembling now, "I just want it to stop – but it never will that's what _he_ showed me! It's human nature to lie and hurt people—" he pointed an accusatory finger at him, "You're protecting a fallen race! That's why _you_ must die!"

The redhead watched him, "I hear ya, but I'm the one you're after. You can let these friends of mine go and I'll give you the fight your want," he jabbed his thumb towards his chest, "I accept your challenge – with or without my spirit energy!"

But Mitarai smirked, "You really don't get it do you? I'm not here to compete, I'm here to wipe out every human being…starting with you and your friends!" his eyes flickered briefly, "Though…I did have special orders to bring back Miss Arakawa once I was through with the likes of you."

Mai tensed and her eyes shot up suddenly, "What?"

Kazuma stepped in front of her, "Oh yeah?" he challenged dangerously, "Well if that's if you can get through me! And believe me, it's not as easy as it sounds!" he clenched his fist and glanced back towards the guardian, "Don't worry…I'll protect you, Mai…" he told her seriously.

She blinked slowly, "…Kuwabara…"

Across from them, the psychic frowned angrily, "Fine! If you're that willing to die, I'll gladly speed the process along for you!"

Kijima clenched his own fists this time as he stood beside his friend, "Not if I have anything to say about it!" he roared – and without warning charged across the street towards the calm-faced psychic.

"No, _stop_!"

He raced forward towards Seaman; suddenly filled with an intense anger. But as he drew closer, something flashed across Mitarai's eyes and the psychic smirked. Kijima then saw, too late, the smaller of the water creatures leaping in front of him. The monster smirked like its master and jumped into the air; striking the teen painfully across the face. Kijima grunted as he crashed onto the ground, and the water-imp landed on top of him.

"Er!" Kazuma yelled and charged forward, "You punk! Haven't you ever heard of a code!" his leg swung out and smashed into the water creature. The monster dissolved under the attack and returned to the water, "That's called honor and kicking butt—!"

The redhead was cut off suddenly when he noticed the glowing remains of the creature drawing themselves back together. They built up once more and formed back into Mitarai's little minion; grinning smugly beneath the rain.

Seaman laughed at him, "Hit it all you like! It _always_ comes back!"

Kuwabara stared, "It what—?"

Suddenly, a jet of water zoomed at him and struck him in the face. The redhead's neck snapped backwards and he staggered – just as another appeared below him and punched him the other way. The little water monster jumped back onto the pavement – only to suddenly separate into tiny bullets that shot right back at Kuwabara; mercilessly pounding him until Mitarai's creature reformed and gave him one last punch to the face – sending him flying backwards. He slid across the pavement where Mai and Okuba remained.

"Kuwabara!" the guardian cried in alarm. She bent swiftly by his side, "Kuwabara…_Kuwabara_!" she tried to lift him by his shoulders as gently as she could while Okuba began to shake his head beside her.

"No…" he whispered; rocking his head furiously as he shut his eyes, "NO!" he cried and suddenly turned, racing down the street towards the water monster at Seaman's feet. He punched clumsily at the little creature – and it was easily able to hop over him. Okuba blinked and turned as the water imp drove a punch straight into his jaw; knocking off his hat as well.

"Kazuma!" Mai cried again, this time in fear. Her eyes flickered, terrified, towards Seaman and could only watch as the rest of Kuwabara' friends were gathered up by the larger creature.

Mitarai laughed again, "All five of you combined can't stop me – I won't have any elitist groups bullying _me_ anymore…" he smirked darkly, and not without an air of superiority. Mai blinked as Kuwabara began to stir, and she carefully let him sit up on his own (though she was reluctant to do so because of the pain he was clearly in).

The redhead's eyes widened when he was fully able to sit up and could see the three of his friends.

"I'll take you out one at a time," Seaman said as he took a step forward, "I'll make you all scream until you see your nasty souls!"

Kuwabara's eyes narrowed dangerously, "You're full of it," he muttered, "Saying you've got the right 'cause guys bullied you around. But you're just like them now…" he told him. And Mai watched as, suddenly, Mitarai's face contorted in rage.

"Don't you say that!" he roared dangerously, "NO!" from his pocket, he suddenly withdrew a silver pocket knife and flicked it open with the twitch of his wrist. He gripped it in his hands fiercely, "_Don't you ever question my motivations again!_" he screamed. Blood suddenly splattered across the wet pavement and Kazuma's eyes grew wide as Seaman drove the blade into Okuba's leg and the teen cried out in pain. The crimson liquid began to seep through the fabric of his jeans and down onto the street.

Mai cried out, "_Stop it!_"

"You haven't lived through _my_ life!" the psychic shouted, "Made into an outcast at every turn – I'm on the good guys' team!"

The redhead clenched his teeth furiously, "Picking on the weak is never good!"

"Hah!" Mitarai laughed, "Then I say we have a war of conviction! What you call injustice – I call getting even!" he raised his hand suddenly and his tiny water creature jumped to life. It instantly leapt into the air and stood before Seaman; preparing to attack Kuwabara once his master deemed it ready, "Now…" he said slowly, "Let's see which side is stronger—!"

"_Matte!_"

He had been just moments from commanding the monster at his feet, but he froze suddenly as the guardian slid in front of Kuwabara. She raised her arms as wide as she could; as if shielding the redhead in all ways possible. Seaman gritted his teeth and lowered his hand as Mai watched him seriously.

"What do you think you're doing?" he muttered.

"Mai!" Kuwabara tried to stand, but a searing pain raced through his side and he remained on the ground. The guardian's gaze darkened towards the psychic as she took a small step forward. Seaman seemed to wince – as if he was reluctant to fight any longer.

She took another step forward, "You won't kill me will you?" she said to Mitarai, "Kamiya wouldn't either. So I guess you'll have to suck it up and fight _me_ if you want to get to Kazuma," she raised her fists as if getting ready to fight him, "So fight me!"

Seaman frowned angrily and swore under his breath, "I'm afraid Miss Arakawa, that you are correct about one thing…" suddenly, his demeanor changed and his frown morphed into a sadistic smirk, "I may not be allowed to kill you…"

His water monster moved towards her.

"_But I can prevent you from getting in my way!_"

-:-

a/n: Well that was a quick update n.n

But seriously, please tell me if you're enjoying this story. When I see that a good thirty people have looked at a chapter and only two or three have reviewed, it kind of reminds me of those kids I see at the bookstore who sit there and read the manga without even paying a dime to help support the manga-_ka_…

Well, it's not that serious – and I usually don't say this but…

PLEASE REVIEW

Hehe, peace and love, _minna-san!_


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